A Shattered Galaxy An After NJO Saga
by Tsavong-Lah
Summary: 500 years after RotJ. The galaxy now suffers as new wars start and old feuds begin anew, all the while a dark veil falls over the fractured galaxy.[New 1101] A swirling dance of battle continues as the Yavin's struggle to hold their own against the Sa'ree
1. Prologue

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Whats what. How did I come up with this.  
You don't have to read this part if you don't want to. Mind you this is not just authors notes in this chapter. It is just a tradition for me to write talk about were my stories come from and what I feel when I write them or what ever inspirations were involved. Mostly rambling, forgive me. I posted this summary on as well.  
  
Well this project is quite the labor for me. The basic idea has been around for ages. Many of my main characters come from the adventures me and my brothers created and drew back when we were a bit younger and the Movies were re-released. Wow that sounds so strange as I right this, so much time….. The story evolved much more through the release of the new movies and were greatly influenced by my diving into the world of Expanded Universe novels and comics. Actually my first SW book officially was Vector Prime. And well as you can guess by my name I am a NJO fan, deeply. I hope this doesn't run anyone off heh. Don't worry this is not an NJO story, it is something else…..heh heh. This is something of an adventure story, perhaps a little bit of a war story too but it changes into something more bigger I hope as it proceeds along. You'd be surprise how many light bulbs you get when you start to put your words down on paper. So many good breaks, I doubt I could do this over.  
  
Another part of my motivations for coming up with this story is my need to actually do a Star Wars story. But the big thing is that this story is an experiment. I set out to do this project to prove, hopefully, that it is possible to have an entertaining, exciting, and involving story set in the SW universe but one that did not involve one of the SW stories typical draws. Namely I wanted to see if it is possible to make a good story without the Movie characters, environments, or even the main book characters. Please dont judge harshly for this but I am known for not liking to be restricted by stories' "continuities". It's not that I am a shrewd or anything, I just never feel I can do other authors worlds or characters justice. So I set my own characters up in their worlds, setting things up parallel to events or in the future or past of events. Which is when I got the idea to put this thing far in the future of the Star Wars universe. It would also prevent me from crossing over other books work and let me show others what I expected to happen to the SW Universe after the Yuuzhan Vong war. I hope I am successful in this experiment. May my writing skills be up to the task. I actually orignially posted this story a while ago on I rewrote a few bits of it on repost. I was so embarrassed, how did I let those kinds of errors and confusing passages slip in. Though there are probably still some more left. "One can only find so much of one's own errors." Well I feel my skills I feel have grown since I first started writing so long ago. But I guess I'll let you guys be the judge of that.  
  
First up is my prologue. Should help get you up to speed concerning events in my timeline. Note: This prologue has remained relatively unchanged since I first "published" it in 7/23/02.  
  
Que Big White letters scrawling across a backdrop of space.

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An After NJO Saga….

A SHATTERED GALAXY 

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Episode 1: Sa'ree Eclipse

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Prologue  
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.  
  
A new era has arisen in a galaxy fractured by horrid war. The great shadows brought by war fell upon this galaxy forever changing its evolution and flow. Now is a time of recovery, recovery from fracture and endless battles. It is a time of adventure and intrigue, a time when the galaxy is filled with new dangers. Many things have changed and some have expectedly remained the same. The galaxy is a different image of its former self, in some ways better and in some ways worse. This being primarily due to events of the past.

**The Yuuzhan Vong War **  
Over 450 years have passed since the devastation of the great Yuuzhan Vong War. The galaxy of that time was under siege from a race of extragalactic invaders. A race of war-minded people that believed their gods sent them to this galaxy to cleanse it of heathens. Their disdain of technology and strange beliefs involving pain and death proved too "alien" for there to be any chance at peace. The Yuuzhan Vong used totally organic technology, from ships to weapons and anything in between; this "biotech" was more than a match for the Galaxy's military forces. The Yuuzhan Vong's tactics and ferocity in battle bested the Republic military time and again. Whole planets and races disappeared forever, destroyed by these strange aliens, and over half the galaxy was conquered by the invaders. Even the precious jewel of the Republic, Coruscant, was taken and shattered. The champions of the Force, the Jedi, were also hard pressed to help defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. Especially since the Yuuzhan Vong defied a "fundamental concept" to the Jedi, they "did not exist in the force". But that did not stop the Jedi. And though they were already few in number, perhaps no more than over 100, the Jedi lost many brave heroes in helping to stop the invaders. Still the damage was done to the New Republic as deceit perpetrated by the invaders and its own members caused it to implode. The great galactic government that was restored from Imperial rule only decades ago fell apart. But thanks in part to many courageous heroes the citizens of the galaxy did not fall. Against all odds an armistice was achieved, the surviving Yuuzhan Vong were allotted a space in the unknown regions to settle. Much to the ire of the galaxy's survivors. Still, with the Yuuzhan Vong occupation having been so large and long, the galaxy's defenders would not have been able to find and defeat all of the Yuuzhan Vong's forces. Better to give them a single place to congregate, instead of having them spread all over the galaxy. And despite few incidents, mostly involving Warrior Caste holdouts and rouge Yuuzhan Vong Warlords, the majority of the Yuuzhan Vong eventually settled into quite obscurity.  
  
**The New Order of the Galaxy **  
A long period of rebuilding and reforming began as the citizens of the galaxy struggled to heal the damage done. Some survivors pushed for restoration of the Republic, but that notion fell on deaf ears. The citizens of the galaxy had lost faith in the Republic after the fiasco of the War. Especially those peoples in the inner and outer rim sectors, which the government essentially left at the mercy of the enemy, so as to protect its precious Core sectors. Many different factions arose, with the most powerful usually being those factions that did not heavily encounter the Yuuzhan Vong during the war. And though they continue to exist, not many independent planets can boast being able to survive on their own for long. Then a horrible period of civil wars broke out, called the Succession Wars, as the strongest factions fought over the scraps of the galaxy. This long drawn out conflict ended mostly thanks to the efforts of crusading Jedi and the alliance of planets that would again reform into the New Republic. After this conflict, the galaxy is still divided however; with many factions like the Bothan Federation, the Hutt Combine, and the Mon Cal Protectorate retaining autonomy. The Newest form of the Republic still remains the largest and most powerful of them, incorporating many more worlds over the years, with the hope that one day the entire galaxy will once again be united under its banner.  
  
**The New Jedi Order **  
The Jedi have once again proliferated the galaxy, and are now hailed as the heroes of old. They have returned from near extinction by the hands of the old Empire and the efforts of the Yuuzhan Vong. Thousands now roam the spaceways thanks to the efforts of great Jedi such as the legendary Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, Kais Bex, the Xhadan sisters and many more. These tireless and fearless souls helped bring about a new era for the followers of the force. The current guardians of peace are reminiscent of the Jedi from the times of old, in their quest to provide peace to all of the galaxy, but also decidedly different in philosophy and practice. They fought during the Succession Wars, mostly to protect those that were defenseless and to try and reunite the Galaxy. They also helped with the rebuilding of the Republic and helped heal many of the scars caused by the long period of aggression. This made the citizens of the galaxy revere them, especially the newly reformed Republic. Erasing much of the distrust caused by the Empire's reign. Still, the Jedi no longer fully ally themselves solely with the Republic as they seek to remain as unbiased and uncontrolled as possible. Jedi are found equally throughout the many factions and sectors, with many training schools found therein as well. The Jedi tend to gather from time to time and hold great conferences at their main Jedi academy on Yavin, which was once occupied by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion. These days recruiting standards are less stringent, as the Jedi seek to expand their number, as they are in such need these days. The Jedi also would never again have the galaxy without trained force-users as during the time of the Empire, or have their numbers so small that they could be counted on fingers as during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Nor would they be so strict as during the Old Republic.  
  
**The Birth of the Jenrai Alliance **  
A new shining star has arisen in the eyes of the galaxy. It is a newly formed stellar nation called the Jenrai Alliance. It is fast becoming a beacon of hope to the disenfranchised and those whose planets suffer from horrid government and oppression. It is said to be a place of understanding and prosperity, an island in the chaos of the rest of the galaxy.  
  
The Jenrai Alliance started from humble means. It is located on the edge of the Outer rim. Formerly it was territory known as wildspace, areas never truly explored by anyone. But during the Successions Wars and the exploratory period that followed many resource rich planets were found in those areas. Because of the rampant problems of the time many fled to this area seeking to make a change. Some destitute looking to strike it rich, other trying to flee the war and destruction of the inner sectors of the galaxy. As these new areas prospered and developed further exploration began and new alien civilizations where encountered. The opening up of trade routes with these new races and the rest of the sector lead to even more prosperous and cultural developments. Still the area was not totally unified, and as it became more prosperous so did it draw the attention of its larger neighbors. During this period planets in the region fell pray to attacks from many different forces. In order to combat this threat many of the representatives from the area met at Jenrai. Jenrai being one of the most developed planets at the time, and a hub for most of the trade and communication of the area. The leaders met and decided that a formal and functional alliance would be most beneficial for increased prosperity, unity, and protection. Thus with all of the regions leaders, including representatives from the strongest alien civilizations in the region; the Verillu, L'hion, Mir'bishi, and the Roujin the treaty of Jenrai is signed. When the formation of the Jenrai Alliance is formerly announced. Response from the other galactic nations is negligible, as some still doubt their ability to defend themselves or the sincerity of their unified front.  
  
A few years would pass until the Alliance's authority was finally challenged by the aggressive actions of the Hutt combine. The hutt's forces attack a few alliance border worlds, with the intentions of pressing in to conquer the entire region. War ensues and soon a decisive battle takes place over Merceles II. The newly formed Jenrai Alliance Defense Force (JADF) arrives with a large flotilla of different ships supplied by all the member worlds. And though they had not been formed into a true unified force yet, they had proved to be competent in engaging the enemy throughout the conflict. The Hutt' Combine forces then arrive as well with a force that is capable of out gunning the Jenrai Alliance fleet. The battle is fierce and though they fight hard soon the rookie JADF forces begin to loose under the savage offensive. Luckily thanks to the efforts of a few outstanding heroes the tide of battle was turned and the enemy was either destroyed or repulsed. The battles shinning star was, a tactically brilliant young officer, a then Lt. Commander, Etrum Abahn. After the acting commander of the fleet's flagship, the Yvarra is killed in a suicide attack by an enemy fighter the Jenrai Alliance fleet fragments and defeat seems certain. Lt. Commander Abahn assumed command and was able to rally the fleet's forces. His quick and precise commands under pressure were able to hold the enemy at bay. This combined with the actions of the JADF's premiere fighter squadron, the then named Alpha Squadron, the Alliance forces managed to turn the tide. It was Alpha squadron that committed a suicidal attack against the heavily guarded Hutt flagship, the Emporia. Braving heavy fire from surrounding ships and fighters, they are able to destroy the Emporia, killing the fleet's leader, Warlord Besajdi Goroda the Hutt. With their leader slain, the Hutt forces either fled the battle or turned against each other, allowing the Alliance forces to route the enemy.  
  
After this battle the Jenrai Alliance becomes a major power in the galaxy over the course of the year. Their influence grows, and tourism and emigration begin to increase in the Jenrai sectors. They also begin friendly relationships with the Republic and other nations. And because of their increased strength after the end of the Hutt Conflict, the Jenrai Alliance begins to protect their weaker neighbors much like the Mon Cal Protectorate. It is still disputed by Jenrai citizens if they should be interfering with other nation's affairs. And with many new conflicts brewing all over the galaxy, many feel that the Jenrai Alliance should not be so eager to make more enemies. All over the galaxy now it seems relations between different factions have become strained. Many old conflicts have inexplicably resurfaced and there are fears that another round of Succession Wars is eminent. A dark veil is falling. And the Jenrai Alliance seeks to stay out of any such hostilities. Still there is no telling what forces have initiated plans to bring misfortune to them..... 


	2. Chapter 1

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Part One: The Relief Effort.

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_Chapter 1_  
  
A steady rumble thrusted through the shiny bulkheads of the freighter Valmont. And soon the vibrations came more frequently and with more intensity. Suddenly a violent shudder went through the ship, and it was forceful enough to throw Ensign Desen Nix out of his bunk and to the floor. Something was wrong.  
  
His roommate Jen Haya was also getting off the floor, and from the way she held her arm, she must have injured it having fallen from the top bunk. "What the hell is going on, Desen!?" she said. By the way her speech was slurred, and by her sloppy attempts to stand up Desen assumed she was still disoriented from the fall. She might even have a concussion. "Jen, I think we are out of hyperspace, but why so soon I don't now. We can't be to Gallonier this fast. And from the way the ship just shook I think there might be an emergency." As if to validate his guess, emergency alarms rang out through the ship.  
  
_All crew Alert! We are under attack! All crew Alert! We are under attack..._  
  
Just then another intense rumble shook the ship, lighting in the hallway dissipated for a few seconds then reappeared. "Damn it Desen, we have to get to the bridge now," yelled Jan as she rushed for the door. She didn't quite make it; she wobbled at the door, lost her balance and fell. "Look Jan I'll head up to the bridge, you should go to medical, I think the fall gave you a concussion," Desen told her. Jan just nodded and walked towards the medic bay using the wall to support her.  
  
Another heavy shudder passed through the ship as Desen made his way to the bridge throwing him to the floor. It now made sense, those shudders were from enemy attacks. Desen got up an again and took off running toward the bridge. "What the hell is going on, who could be attacking us!" he said to himself as he rounded the corner. He incidentally collided with a passing protocol droid, and they both fell to the floor. "Well excuse me sir! I apologize for the delay in answering your question. But there was no need to tackle me."  
  
"What the hell...That was an accident! Besides I don't have time for this we are under attack. Move stupid droid."  
  
"How rude! And to answer your earlier question I do not know who is currently attacking us. I do not think the captain can identify them as well." With that the droid scuffled off.  
Desen rounded the corner and finally made it to the bridge. As soon as he entered he was bombarded by a multitude of panic filled voices.  
  
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The bridge of the Valmont was a thing of chaos. Yelling voices blocked out all other sound. Crew raced back forth between duty stations trying to understand what was happening. And all of them were relying on the Captain for answers. Sadly Captain Rowne was just as lost as them, she didn't even know who these strange aggressors were. She gave a grim nod to Ensign Desen Nix as he entered the bridge then turned to another officer. "Jannen are you sure we don't have any data on these vessels? Keep trying there must be some mistake. Ferard call engineering again, are they sure they can't give us anything? With our engines destroyed we are sitting ducks! I do not want to die here do you understand." She hoped her despair did not show in her voice.  
  
"No luck captain! The computers couldn't turn up any data, not one bit. I don't even recognize the energy emissions. What in the galaxy is that thing," said an almost frantic Officer Jannen, . Then even the normally expressionless face of the Duro Officer Jannen showed dismay as Ferard gave them the news. The engine block was totally gone, they were dead in space.  
  
Captain Rowne was stricken by the news; there was nothing she could do to help any of them now. Had she failed them, failed to keep them safe, failed to keep herself safe? She checked her scanner, half the convoy was destroyed, and the Convoy's escort was totally gone. _How could this happen,_, she thought. _Why did this have to happen... _The Valmont was originally part of a large Sanc Union convoy of 24 Super Freighters. A convoy that was on a mission to the planet Gallonier, a very important mission, as Gallonier was suffering from many supply shortages and the ravages of a viral epidemic. With insurgent raids and theft of supplies high, convoys where being sent out with a heavy escort these days. This convoys escort fleet consisting of 3 Versillai cruisers and their fighter escorts, a fleet that Rowne was confident could deter any enemy that might set their sites on this convoy. _Yet here we are. Our escort totally destroyed, half the convoy reduced to ash, almost all of our fighters destroyed. And only by one mysterious ship._ She laid back in her captains chair, slumping as if all bones had been taken from her body. She sat back and looked out the view port. The strange beam weapons from the enemy ship giving off of its location. Just then another one of the super freighters exploded from the enemy ships firepower. The explosion not even registering on Rowne as she lay in her chair. _All of them dead, Pole, Meireda, Gran....... _The Captain was so far gone she did not even hear her crew calling to her.  
  
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Desen heard the crew calling to the captain, but it seemed she was lost in another world. The desperation of the situation probably overwhelming her. Desen had to admit, he also felt incredible dread. The enemy vessel had just taken out the Remadi, and was now firing on another ship, the Arciara. The attackers didn't even bother to ask for surrender, the enemy ship just seemed intent on destroying all of the convoy's ships. Even escape was not possible as all of the Remadi's and now the Arciara's escape pods were summarily destroyed by the enemy ships escort fighters. Just then another one of the Sanc convoy's last fighters buzzed by the front viewport, it was being chased by the strange starfighters that detached from the enemy ship. The strange fighters were responsible for the complete decimation of the Sanc convoy's fighters and the destruction of the Valmont's engines. Desen hoped the fighter might escape, he hoped that it would warn someone about the attack. But from the way those small things were chasing it, like a swarm of Deju Beetles hungering for meat, he doubted it could escape.  
  
A strong rumble shook the ship. Desen looked out the viewport, the Arciara had just died less than 1 kilometer from the Valmont. The sight filled Desen with horror, but he was even more fearful when he saw _It_. There it was, visible by the light of the explosion of the Arciara, the enemy ship. It was ovoid in shape, as large as he imagined it would be. Its hull was smooth, the color of gold or brass, and covered with many intricate designs and protrusions. It would have been beautiful even, if it wasn't the instrument of this convoy's death. . That fact shook Desen now, and the weight of his situation threatened to make him fall into despair like the captain. Instead he decided to keep trying to do something, anything. He got back on his comm. system and resumed hailing the ship again; he had to try something even if it was futile. He looked up from his station; the large elegant thing was now at close range, its guns ready to opened fire. The strange energy projectiles shot out and hammered the transport, alarm claxons rang as the ships already damaged shield system collapsed. Desen kept hailing the enemy vessel it was all he could do.  
  
"Please! We surrender; there is no need to destroy us! Why are you doing this!? I repeat. Please! We surrend..."  
  
The enemy ship opened fire again, a full barrage, the bright energy filled the Valmont's viewport as it reached its target. Desen was oblivious to the screams of the crew, he just put his head down on his console.  
  
Then there was nothing...

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There it was again more of the foolish things transmissions. Like it would help change things for these......these primitives.  
  
"Attendant" boomed Verdant Haesilis, like a strong chime in the attendant's head. He nodded, he already knew the Verdant's request. Such was the level of communication possible for their kind.  
  
"Nothing sa'un Verdant. Just more transmissions. Strange they know no help will come..." he said as he put the signal on speaker.  
  
"Please! We surrender; there is no need to destroy us! Why are you doing this!? I repeat. Please! We surrend..."  
  
"Don't be unwise Attendant," Verdant Haesilis mindliked. "They are contacting us young one, they are begging for mercy." The Verdant rose from his seat of command. The "primitives" ships had barely put up any fight, this was boring him. The young attendant went to turn off the transmission, but the Verdant halted him. "Leave it up, I am in need of…amusement." He was one of the few that were required to learn the beastlike languages used by the lesser beings in this galaxy. Such devolved creatures, using spoken language, it was almost quaint.  
  
He looked out of the viewport of his magnificent vessel just as the ship's current target erupted in a brilliant flare of death. Just then another attendant walked up to the Verdant, executing a deep bow before she reported her information.  
  
"All enemy fighters destroyed sir, none escaped."  
  
"Excellent." He whispered, pleased with this encounter's events. It was yet too soon to reveal themselves to this galaxy. Time was still needed for his masters' forces.  
  
The forces of the Sa'ree.


	3. Chapter 2

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_Chapter 2_  
  
_Planet Jenrai, Jenaris System_  
  
The planet Jenrai is one of the jewels of the Jenrai Alliance. The second planet from the Star Jenaris, it is a stable world inhabitable by most of the galaxy's species. The planet is covered by seas and spotted with multiple forest-covered islands. Jenrai was one if the first planets colonized in this sector at a time around the beginning of the Succession wars. The Jenaris System's location, at a cross of known hyperspace routes, made it an ideal hub for further exploration into the then unmapped Jecilla sector and the surrounding areas. Soon it became the gateway into the region and a great location for trade between the planets in the Jecilla sector and rest of the galaxy. Overtime big business and many of the sector's most influential leaders headed to the temperate planet, as many felt it was an ideal place to conduct their daily business. Then when contact was made with some of the unknown races that inhabited the unexplored portions of the Jecilla sector, they too decided to use Jenrai as their window to the rest of the galaxy. Large numbers of these species migrated to Jenrai, further adding to its diverse and exciting culture. In fact the Verillu's _Aqualius Meridius_, a large hive of interconnected aquatic and amphibious settlements, is one of the planet Jenrai's most memorable landmarks.  
  
Around the time of increasing troubles in the sector, such as attacks by other galactic factions, most of the sector's leadership met on Jenrai to discuss plans of unification. In fact, even before this, the people of Jenrai had been major supporters of unifying the sector into one consolidated powerbase. Many of the Governments in the sector already looked to Jenrai for leadership. And, as it turned out, the Treaty of Jenrai did so give birth to such a stellar alliance. It was only fitting that they decided the alliance to be so named, with Jenrai as the capital of course. Presently, all of the planets and nations in the alliance send their representative to Jenrai to meet and decide policy, air grievances, and discuss the alliances future goals. Much like the Galactic Senate of the Republic. All representatives meet and reside in the capital city of the planet, Bavelle.  
  
Bavelle is an incredibly large city built upon the large isle of Aelis and into some of the surrounding sea. It is known for its tall towers of blue, silver and gold hue, and incredible aquatic depts. It is a marvel of architecture, with design ascetics mostly modeled off of Coruscant's famous skyline. Even so, much care was taken to integrate the native nature of the planet into its city designs. There are large parks and forest that were preserved when the city was built, many buildings also feature huge hanging gardens filled with native flora. Flowing water is also a familiar concept. Such as certain buildings use of artificial waterfalls. Part of the city is also located underwater as a sizable number of aquatic residents call this city home. Its' underwater towers are truly a breathtaking sight.  
  
It is in Bavelle that the huge government complexes that run the Alliance are located, like the large training and coordination facilities of the Jenrai Alliance Defense Force. One of the most important is probably the Alliance's Senatorium, the great hall where all of the alliance's representatives meet to govern. In fact, they have recently called an assembly to discuss a topic of grave importance.  
  
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A diplomatic commuter speeder shot through the traffic of Bavelle's congested skylanes. It wove and dove through the congested hover ways of the great city with reckless abandon. It was evening on Jenrai, and the city of Bavelle was most beautiful this time of day. Or it would have been beautiful to the passengers of this speeder, if it wasn't making its crazed maneuvers through the sky that is.  
  
"Father! What the Heck!" screamed Bal, a young Zebrak child, one of the passengers on this speeding vehicle, "_Jesakk! _You really have to start getting ready earlier!"  
  
"Huh" said the driver, he was obviously oblivious to all outside communication. "No cussing Bal."  
  
"I hate this. You drive so crazy when your late."  
  
"Yeah sure son," said Zebrak Councilman Kiish, the pilot of this vessel. Council Kiish is the popular representative of the Leosh System. He has been involved in politics for many years and has garnered much respect for his compassion and foresight in the Senatorium. He is also responsible for the improved standing of his native system, the impoverished Leosh. But despite his accomplishments, he is known by one of his more regrettable flaws, his chronic tardiness…of epic proportions.  
  
"Ah, he's not even listening. Just whaaaa...!" yelled Bal, as the speeder dived through yet another lane of traffic.  
  
"Well young Bal its not his fault this time," yelled Lala Ru, she was a member of the delicate Kaminoan species. She was also Council Kiish's loyal aide, actually more of a council in her own right. Kiish had been giving her more of his duties as of late. "This meeting is more of a urgent situation. Chancellor Min, for some reason has called a emergency meeting of council. I wonderrrrrrrr..." she yelled as the speeder shot into another lane of traffic.  
  
The speeder barely missed a collision with a nearby hovertruck. But then the speeder slowed its speed as it merged into the same traffic "lane". Bal finally was able to relax a bit, as the speeder's wild gyrations stopped. The speeder seemed to have edged into the flow of one particular lane of hoverway traffic and became surround by hundreds of other vehicles.  
  
"Dmn. That's it, looks like were stuck for now," vented Council Kiish. "Even I can't get through this. We'll have to ride this lane all the way to the Senatorium."  
  
The speeder was now blocked in. Hovercars and transports, of all kinds, surrounded them on all sides. Up, down, left, right all heading in one direction. Towards "downtown" Bavelle, the government district.  
  
"Thank goodness," sighed Bal, "Ms. Ru, I really don't see how you do it. My father drives like a crazed madman juicing through this huge city, more like a crazed Lanthik, and you hardly even bat an eye."  
  
"What? Come on son, have a little more faith in my abilities." Kiish said sheepishly. "Do remember I used to be pilot, even flew in the Ises conflict."  
  
"Yeah suuure father, you never let us forget. Still this is no excuse for driving so reckless."  
  
"Don't worry Sir Bal, I've been with your father for years, you sort of get used to it," said Lala Ru introspectively. "Though there have been some pretty interesting occurrences." She mused.  
  
"Not you too my dear." Kiish said with mock anguish. " Well in any case looks like we made it relatively early," He said pointing. The large dome of the great Senatorium could now be seen behind the nearest two buildings. "Well in only 15 minutes too, that's pretty good for me wouldn't you say Lala?" said Kiish as he checked his chrono. Lala just nodded, a veil of emotions as usual, though a light smile briefly crossed her face.  
  
Council Kiish jerked the passengers of the speeder once again as he jockeyed with the other travelers for a "better" spot in the traffic flow. This usually did not have any effect on actually shortening travel time. Bal guessed it was more for piece of mind that rash drivers usually did such things, especially when they were in a rush.  
  
"Father?"  
  
"Yes Bal, something wrong?" Kiish asked, he turned to see Bal's face a mask of inquiry.  
  
"Who's this Chancellor person, whats she like? " the young boy asked, " Is it usually something bad when she calls a emergency meeting?"  
  
Council Kiish giggled to himself. "I guess a young man such as yourself wouldn't be to interested in politics, heh. Well lets see. The chancellor is like the chair of the Senatorium per se. More of the leader of the leaders I guess. The chancellor is mostly responsible for directing the focus of the council."  
  
"No I mean this person Chancellor Min. I'm not that out of touch father, even if I am a child."  
  
"Well forgive me son," Kiish said smiling. "As for Chancellor Min, she's a wise and wonderful person. One of the founders of the Alliance, a true elder stateswoman to all of us. I doubt she'd call an emergency meeting unless it was absolutely necessary. I haven't heard anything myself, so it could be about the return of the return of the long dead Sith for all I know. We'll see when we get there," said Kiish as he finally brought the speeder out of this lane off traffic and began to approach the Senatorium landing pad.  
  
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**_Notes:_** The character of Kiish originally was going to be a short part used just to introduce the government system of Jenrai, etc. But I grew on him and decided to expand his part a bit. This thing is ballooning from my original concept so I have time to involve all sorts of characters really.  
  
The same goes for Lala Ru Kiish's assistant, though she was originally human. After seeing the most interesting Kiminoans from AotC I decided to make her one. LaLa Ru is named after a character from a very good anime named "Now and Then, Here and There."  
  
The city of Bavelle is described to be similar to Coruscant. Thats the only thing I had to compare it to in the Star Wars universe. In actuality it is based off of Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X. I did so love Zanarkand's architecture and style, I felt it perfect to be the capital of Jenrai. I was listening heavily to the Final Fantasy X soundtrack at this time, it influenced a lot of my ideas. Listen to it if you can find it, it is great.


	4. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3  
  
_We are under seige! I repeat the planet of Gallonier is under siege! We do not know who they are or what they want. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. We have already surrendered yet still they do not stop attacking us. They do not respond to our hails nor do they give any mercy to civilians or the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  
  
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz technology. It was too advanced for our defenders. We tried zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, but it was no use. They defeated our forces easily, insanely so. They have now zzzzzzzzzzzz bombarding of the planet with strange energy weapons, something we have never zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Millions are dead, and I have just received word that zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  
  
Communications with Sanc Prime has been unsuccessful, we have not been able to reach any source outside the system. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz have the power to disable communications over so large an area we don't know. It seems it is too late for us to receive aid, and I fear that Sanc Prime zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I pray that this courier is able to reach the Alliance, as you may be their only hope. Even now I see them, their terrible ships are approaching this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I pray to you please help the Sanc zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz  
  
End transmission.  
_  
  
The holo message being shown before the solemn councils ended. The entire auditorium was silent as they all took in the depth of the messages meaning. Then a tall human in JADF officers uniform stepped up the auditorium's podium. He was a middle-aged man with long blonde hair and possessed a face of stern expressions. Still despite this some might confuse him for a much younger man. A ridiculously beautiful younger man. His face was grim as he bowed to the assembled councilors and continued his report.  
  
"This message was received by one our holonet relay stations on the border of Sanc Union territory, the Andros system. And I apologize for the message quality. That is as good a doctoring as the tech staff could give us. The transmitting ship was destroyed upon receipt of the message. Further investigation has shown that the vessel was destroyed almost immediately upon arrival in the Andros system, and is laced with some interesting energy readings. Our tech staff has never encountered anything like it, I plan give a more in-depth report on their findings as time permits. Well that concludes the information I have to bring before you. It is now up to you of the Council to determine our actual course of action," he then paused for a moment, his face turning introspective. "But may I add, if we do decide to send forces to provide aid, I suggest we do it as soon as possible. In a situation like this time is critical. " With that said he then stepped aside as another person walked up to the podium.  
  
"Thank you Admiral Zeshin, for your timely report," said the carefully controlled voice of Chancellor Min. And though she sought to control it too, her face was heavy with concern. This more than anything showed the rest of the Council how dire the situation was. Despite her age Chancellor Min was usually so serene and so full of potent energy, a far cry from the wary leader before them. It was known that Min's family immigrated from the Sanc Union and she still had ties there. The councils all knew she would want to help the Sanc, but they also knew it would come to a vote. And she was fully prepared to abide by that vote. "Well gentlebeings it seems that what we have before us is a particularly grave event, and while it might not seem so now, it is an event with the ability to impact our great state as well. Our neighbors in the Sanc Union have fallen under attack by unknown aggressors, and there is much we do not know about the situation," she said pausing for the moment. She made sure to sweep her gaze across the whole of the great auditorium before she continued. "What we DO know is that, they seem to be a race not yet encountered by anyone in this galaxy, be that as it may, their aggressive actions indicates to me their intentions. And so it is the purpose of this emergency session to decide if we should send a task force into Sanc space, to provide aid to our besieged neighbors the Sanc Union."  
  
With that said the many Councils broke into an uproar, and the auditorium was soon filled with a staccato of voices, not the sound of unproductive bickering, but of serious debate. This went on for many moments as every Council conferred with their neighbors about the situation. Chancellor Min raised a hand to silence them, and they did so. After the last of the voices faded she nodded towards one member, it seemed she intended to hear each and everyone their comments. "Council Corr'ish."  
  
Seeing his queue, Council Corr'ish stood, he was the Duro Council representing the Tiphai system. "Well as grave as the situation maybe my fellows, I must say I am hesitant to send our forces into such an unknown battlefield. I am more inclined to let that far away conflict sort itself out rather than embroil our forces in another galactic incident." As he finish a few echoes of agreement sounded out around him. This response did not surprise many, given the Tiphai system's reclusive behavior.  
  
"I strongly disagree!" said the next speaker a human, She was the Council Chilat of the Eyrelan System. Home to one of Jenrai's major manufacturing concerns, mostly military in nature. "While you Corr'ish would have us hide behind our boarders, Sanc is being overrun. I am for sending aid to them. We should be looking down the line. What happens when Sanc is conquered, it is wishful thinking to believe these aggressors will be content with Sanc. They will look to us next! That is why I say we strike now and stop this threat! Rather than wait until later when they employ Sanc resources!"  
  
"Hold Council," said another, it was Mianda, the Council from New Alderaan. "Unlike you Miss Chilat many of us do not feel so eager to send our forces into another war!" he barked. "You Ma'am and your system might be so eager to see us flex our military might, but I am not. And I feel many share my sentiments. The situation might not be as dire as you make it out to be."  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Mianda," said another, the Verillu Council Arora, "But I feel we can not sit by idly. As grim as the prospect of battle is, we must not cower from it. Those good people are in need of assistance. We here in this great nation have the power to help them, it is our right and duty to help them if we so have the ability."  
  
More People rose up to voice their opinions. A Caamasi Council put his hands over his head as he stood up to calm his fellows. Soon the whole auditorium was again filled with the sounds of disagreeing representatives.  
  
In response to this Council Kiish leaned back and put his feet up. _It is going to be a long night._

----------------------------------------

"Well Sir, how did it fair?" asked a concerned Lala Ru. The emergency session had ended hours ago and Lala had been waiting diligently to find out what the outcome had been. The Kaminoan had begun to wonder what was taking Council Kiish so long to return to his office.  
  
"It's decided. Looks like we are going to mobilize our forces." Said a deeply tired looking Council Kiish, he entered his office, hands massaging his worn-out eyes." A large taskforce is being gathered to travel to Sanc, seems they are under attack and no one knows what's going on in the sector. I'm sure you've heard by now."  
  
"Yes sir, the media's speed always surprises me."  
  
"Well Chancellor Min felt it wise not to invoke a blackout, best to get this situation out in the public. Get other support behind it. "  
  
"How bad does it look? I don't really know to much about the situation." Lala asked.  
  
"That's the thing my dear girl, we don't to know much about the situation ourselves. There is no information at all available from the region. We have no idea what the situation is, that's one of the purposes of the mission. As for the attacking aliens we have no idea about them as well. Evidence points to them being an entirely undiscovered race or faction. Thought we definitely know this for certain, their intentions are not of noble origin. I'll fully debrief you on my info later. For all we know all of Sanc may have fallen to them."  
  
"Terrible.........Sir does that mean we will be reporting back to our home system to report this turn of events?"  
  
"Actually I won't be able to Ms. Ru," said Kiish, he seemed sullen and pensive with this admission. Finally he said, "I'll be going with them, the taskforce I mean."  
  
"What?!" said Lala Ru, for once her usually emotionless face actually seemed surprised. "But Sir, you can hardly leave your post here. Who would represent our system in the Senatorium?"  
  
"You would Lala Ru."  
  
"But sir," she said with dismay, it was a long moment before she spoke gain. "I hardly think I'm ready to handle y.........."  
  
Kiish raised a hand interrupting her. "Please Lala, have more faith in yourself. You can easily replace me here. I have incredible faith in your abilities to handle my position while I am gone. And you know you can as well." He paused for a minute as if deciding whether to say something, then he placed his hand on her shoulder as he looked up into her large eyes. "Look Lala I think now is a good time to tell you that I'm retiring from the Council, and I would like to have you replace me here."  
  
"Sir I...........don't know......... what to make of this...of all this.." She said, she seemed a loss for words.  
  
Kiish couldn't help from grinning, he had to admit he was enjoying this. It's a rare day when he gets to see his trusted assistant so flustered. "Lala I've been planning this for a while, why do you think I've had you doing more and more of my work these days. Surely you did not think it was because I was getting lazy" he said with a chuckle. "I've already talked with the Governor and his staff, they have no problem with you taking over my position. It's one of the reasons I volunteered to go along with the taskforce."  
  
"I am honored everyone thinks I am up to the task sir. Its just a bit overwhelming to say the least," she admitted.  
  
"Good then, looks like everything is in order here. When I get back we'll make things more final, you know new nameplates for the office and all that, " he said jokingly.  
  
"I will try not to disappoint," she said, it seemed she had finally regained her composure, but she still seemed worried. "But Council Kiish I still don't understand. Why volunteer for the mission sir? Isn't that needlessly dangerous for you especially now that you are planning to retire. "  
  
"I do understand that my dear, but I believe I can be of some use. It seems they will need an experienced statesman. Those militaryheads might do ok, but I know they are going to need some one good at negotiation and protocol especially where the Sanc Union is concerned, and I figure I'm just who the one for the job. But also this will be a chance for me to get out and do something 'exciting' for a change. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy my job here, and spending time with you of course my dear, but things can get extremely tedious after awhile.  
  
"Maybe it's a mid-life crisis those humans talk of Sir." Lala said with a little mirth. Kiish pretended not to hear her, but couldn't help but smile at the suggestion.  
  
"Any now I have to tell Bal and his mother. I can here my Ex now, 'Oh no your not going to dodge this responsibility you know.' And on and on it will go." Kiish said as he shook his head, "I mean bless her, but I shudder at the thought of facing her wrath again"  
  
"She is right thought. But if you don't mind Sir, I wouldn't mind watching over young Bal while you are gone"  
  
"That is very kind of you Lala Ru, I would really appreciate it." He said smilingly, it was a devious smile indeed. "Still knowing Bal, I can' help but wonder that you don't know what you're getting yourself into."  
  
Lala Ru became quite as she looked out of the large wall height windows of Council Kiish's office. Eyes lost in the hypnotic skyscape outside.

"That's interesting," she whispered, " I had the same feeling about you Council Kiish…."


	5. Chapter 4

  
  
_Bavelle  
Traen Naval Academy _  
  
Captain Etrum Abahn surveyed his modest apartment. A place that he rarely had time to visit these days. That was the life of a man such as himself, always a conflict calling one away to some distant battlefield. It seemed as if the galaxy's turmoil wouldn't let anyone rest. _A shame really_, he thought, _Bavelle could be so beautiful. I'd love to be around long enough enjoy it for once. _  
  
Never a days rest for Etrum Abahn. Not for one with his unusual history and ability. Abahn a young hero of the Alliance, a tactical genius, a leader's leader. Or at least everyone thought so. Everyone except Abahn that is, he considered himself overrated. But it was partly true, it was he who helped the Jenrai Alliance win that battle, a victory over terrible odds. He had rallied the Jenrai forces and gave them his ideas, his suggestions, he helped focus them, and they had won had defeated the Hutt Fleet. But Abahn wasn't at all what everyone though he was, he had just wanted to live, to come out of the conflict and be able to go home. He didn't want to be a leader or a tactician. Who would have thought he would actually be so good at both. _Sometimes it seems they will never let me live it down_, he thought, smiling at some weird joke, his life.  
  
Abahn walked over to the far wall of the apartment. He looked over the 'trophies' he had collected from his many exploits, and a large picture of his baby, his flagship the Yvarra. The holopics of friends that had fought with him, and those that died, over the course of his many battles hung on that wall. It seemed like so long already, and so many pictures he thought. He gazed into the mirror that hung in front of him. His thick dark brown hair still dominated his head, but there where a touch of gray in there as well. _More and more these days._ A raged scar still dominated his face crossing diagonally from the top right temple of his head down to the left of his chick, a memento from that faithful battle. He was only a young man. _So why do I feel ancient when I'm away from the battle field. Which is rather sad in itself,_ he laughed to himself. Just then there was a tone from the door, he had a visitor.  
  
"Come in please," he said. When the door opened he could see from the reflection in the wall mirror that it was an old friend. Abahn turned to greet him, snapping to attention and saluting. And in stepped Admiral Payden Zeshin, one of the top leaders of the JADF. He was a tall, broad shouldered man, with decidedly un-regulation long blond hair, and an electric gaze. He looked like he would be more at home on some designer's catwalk than in a military force. Abahn smiled as he remembered the adoration his female crew had for the man.  
  
"Greetings Etrum...Goodness man put your arms down, no need for formalities." He shook his head as he entered and sat down on one of Abahn's lounge chairs.  
  
"So," said Abahn, "To what do I owe the pleasure. Whenever you're around it always means trouble for me."  
  
Zeshin smiled as he shook his head, "True enough Etrum, but not this time, we already discussed that at the briefing. Which is why I came. I wanted to see how you felt about this one."  
  
Abahn's face turned solemn as he considered this. "Well I knew it was serious when you leader-types assigned me to the mission, not to sound cocky but the JADF has sent me on some hellraisers these past few years. Then there is the fleet you've assembled. Pretty extensive Zeshin."  
  
"Indeed, but as you know when confronting an unknown enemy, it is better to have too many options than to few."  
  
"True, and I guess it does warrant it. The reports the labheads gave us on those weapons were interesting. And our unknown aggressors seem to be formidable, based on our reports. I must say I'm not looking forward to leading my people into a situation like this…... An unknown situation Zeshin."  
  
Zeshin nodded sagely, "Well I have some good news. I managed to assign some old friends of yours to the Yvarra." He smiled when he saw the 'OH NO' expression written on Abahn's face.  
  
"Oooh Maker help me, not Yavin squadron," He said in mock agitation, "Yeah I missed those trouble makers. But now I know its serious if you've assigned them to this mission."  
  
"Well my fellow higher ups thought it would show the Sanc Union how much we liked them, you know political foolishness like that. I know a few that have wanted the Sanc Union to join us for a while now. All jokes aside though, you know how good they are, you'll need all the edges you could get."  
  
"Sadly for some reason I feel that's exactly what will be needed," Abahn admitted.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Nejim Paet lay back in his bunk reading a new E-novel, he smiled as he read a particular page. The dark-skinned man always enjoyed his reading, it was good to do so on his time off, a nice way to mellow out between missions. _Ah this is a good one. Well enjoy it while it lasts Nejim my boy. Its not like we get a lot of time off_, he thought to himself. Nejim was a part of the illustrious Yavin squadron. The premiere squadron of JADF, of which Nejim was a founding member. Originally just designated Alpha squadron, they choose the name Yavin after some of their more harrowing exploits. To the pilots in it Yavin represented the longshot, the last hope, the bravery against hopeless odds. As it did to the Rebels of the Rebel Alliance so long ago, when they managed to defeat the terrible DeathStar. Given the squadrons history of pulling off fantastic victories despite the odds the name seemed fitting. It was a little different now than it had been though, originally it was full of a daring band of young pilots eager to protect the Jenrai Alliance against the Hutt Combine, now it was a whole other entity. An elite unit filled with the best and brightest of the Alliance pilots, quite the political showpony as well. They had been called upon for a nearly unending supply of missions over the years. Missions ranging from diplomatic escort, to routing out pirate bosses, to toppling evil warlords, they never got the time for much rest. As a result they tended to relish the time they got with fanatic defensiveness.  
  
A tone rang at the door to his room, Nejim immediately cringed, _What now? Is it time already_! "What is it, enter."  
  
"Hey Nejim have you heard!" said a strong melodic voice thought it was a bit labored. It was Giani Jinn, his Deveronian wingmate, he was clearly out of breathe. He burst into the small room, seemingly buzzing with excitement.  
  
"About our assignment, Yes I heard, I'm already packed." Nejim smiled as he looked over at his disappointed wing mate. He knew Giani liked to be the barer of fresh news. "Don't look at me like that, you're the one that always disappears whenever we have some leave."  
  
"Better than locking myself in a room like you, " he said as he walked over and playfully slapped the book out of Nejim's hand. "Gasad! Another assignment. And we just got back from Beta Esla IV. I was hoping for a longer break." His expression turned serious as he rubbed his chin with his hand. " I didn't even manage to get into any serious trouble this time."  
  
Nejim let out an exasperated sign. He knew his wing mate was notorious for the fights he caused and the trouble he went looking for. What did he expect, Giani was a former street brawler after all.  
  
"So Nejim, what do think about this one. "  
  
"When I saw the news reports about trouble in Sanc I knew we might be assigned to it, still I figured the newsreps might be exaggerating the danger of the situation. After I read the reports, I was more inclined to think otherwise. And they're sending Abahn, so you now it is serious."  
  
"I heard that as well. Perhaps this time we can actually engage some enemies." Giani's eyes blazed at the thought of coming conflict as he always did. "Nejim, most of the squadron is going out tonight as per standard tradition. Can we expect you this time." He was expectant as he eyed the brown-skinned human, Nejim was not known as a particularly social person.  
  
"Sure why not, I need to get out more," said Nejim jumping up out of his bed suddenly and running a hand over his low-cut hair. "I'll be there."  
  
Giani seemed pleasantly surprised. "We'll be at the Usual, about 4 from now." he said as he left the apartment. "I have other stuff to do," Giani said leaving, he had that mischievous look in his eye.__


	6. Chapter 5

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Bavelle  
Sierda District  
  
There it was the "Usual". One of the seedy Sierda District's more famous dives. It sat at a cross roads of two large intersecting walkways, a large pavilion that probably used to be some sort of shopping district before the neighborhood went bad. Nejim had heard about how bad Sierda was supposed to be, and how dangerous, but Nejim had to admit that the place was pretty lively and kind of beautiful in its own way. The streets were alive with thousands of people of all types looking to enjoy themselves on this young night. Lights of all colors flashed overhead advertising every place of "entertainment." Clubs, bars, casinos, and many less reputable establishments. There were hundreds of little shops set up selling their wares, and street performers doing amazing feats, there was excitement everywhere. Nejim parked his speederbike and disembarked to make his way to the place where the squad was to meet. The crowd was thick as he approached, he must have bumped into one of every species on Jenrai and that was even before he got to the entrance. Then there it was. The entrance to the "Usual", the place must have been three stories tall. A colossal neon sign flashed overhead, the light of all the colors in the spectrum casting its haze over the crowd. The line to get in was incredible, it must have stretched down the block. Nejim just stood and gapped, a lost for words, obviously the Usual had gotten a lot more popular since the last time Yavin squadron was on Jenrai. This was a place the squadron usually liked to hang out at before a big mission, Nejim always had a hard time getting in on the best of occasions. And now…  
  
"You seem distressed handsome," said a young Bothan woman as she wrapped her arms around Nejim's. "Perhaps I can help you out, " she said hugging up on Nejim even more. Her leer made it clear what she wanted, obviously she was soliciting a help of a different sort.  
  
"No thank you miss," Nejim said politely, "the only help I'll be needing is getting in this monster."  
  
"I doubt you'll be able to get in there anytime soon. Thats the hottest place this side of Kit's Nebula these days. It might take hours, if you cut that is."  
  
Nejim looked at the line of would be party goers, things looked a little rough in that line that was for sure. "I doubt I'll be doing that." He said with a whistle.  
  
"I know, besides you'd have more fun with me anyway, I can promise you." She said with a wink.  
  
"HEY NEJIM!" Someone screamed. Nejim's turned to see that the call had originated from Esel Pavl, another human pilot in Yavin squadron. Giani stood with him.  
  
"So you made it man, ha!" yelled Giani as he slapped Nejim's back, hard. He whistled as well as he noticed the line "This place sure has blown up hasn't it. Good. Hey who's this young lady."  
  
"A friend of mine," Nejim said blushing. "Sorry miss my friends are here so I must go, but good luck in your endeavors I guess. Heh." He said, then he gave her a little bow. Giani slapped his forehead, and Esel just giggled. The girl giggled as well and placed a kiss on Nejim's chic before disappearing into the crowd.  
  
"Dmn are you corny Nejim." Said Giani shaking his head.  
  
"I don't know?" said Esel grinning. It's a bit old school; the chivalrous approach. Nejim I'm proud of you, you've grown up on me."  
  
"What!? Did you think I was…guys never mind that. So how are we getting in?" Nejim asked trying to deflect attention. Still it seemed unlikely they would get in anytime soon.  
  
"Don't worry," said Esel "Remember Tanem and I know the owners of this place, we'll be in no time."  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
The name Usual was actually a shameless pun, for inside the club it was far from usual. This was one of the most exotic clubs in the city. It was a huge complex, with multiple levels of dance floors built out of transparent plasteel. It gave club goers on the upper levers the feeling of dancing on air. Multitudes of Lights flashed overhead, Nejim remembered that some lights only other aliens could see. Above them, Nejim could see the dense crowd of patrons on the other levels dancing away. The music roared throughout the large building, a mixture of many bands and many styles merging into one big surge of sound. It made him feel like he was vibrating. _I guess a lot has changed since the last time we were here. _The pilots pushed past the thick crowd of club goers, it was as if the club was past capacity. A sea of bodies everywhere. Nejim joked that there must have been one of every kind of being that ever lived in this place.  
  
Finally they made it to the top level. It was a pretty glitzy affair. Not as tightly packed as the lower levels, but filled with more than a few movers and shakers of Bavelle. _Esel Pavl always did have interesting connections._ There they were, the rest of the team, the pilots of Yavin squadron, seated far in the back.  
  
"Finally you guys made it!" one of them yelled, it was Kassiopeia R'hea. "So Nejim came too!" He shook his head dejectedly, he knew everyone was going to make a big deal about this. Kass' ,as she preferred to be called ,was a L'hion. A race of feline-like humanoids native to the Jecilla sector, one of the founding races of Jenrai. She was a tough woman, as L'hion usually were. She gained the name Redline for her tendency to push herself and her craft beyond their limits, it was her ability to do this that made her such a great pilot. "So how did Giani do it!" she laughed.  
  
"O.K. people lets calm down. Yes I am here; I have arrived from out of my cave. I do go out you know." Nejim pleaded.  
  
"Yeah, lets not ride him too hard," that was Tanem Vekk. Leader of Yavin squadron and one of its original members along with Nejim and Kash. He smiled at Nejim, shaking his head as the others approached the table, "We know Nejim likes his quite time, I can't blame him, it is not like we get much."  
  
"Isn't that our motto Tanem," laughed Esel. "Oh we don't mind all the suicide mission or even the long boring stuff…its just we don't get any free time", he said in a imitation of a whiny ol' Madres' famous blunder. Everyone had a good laugh remembering Madres, a good yet sometimes absentminded pilot that used to be in the squadron.  
  
Tanem put a hand over his mouth as he laughed losing some of his famous composure. Tanem was a casual man with long black hair, he was mildly feminine in appearance with strange tattoos on his forehead and cheeks. Tanem was an odd character; probably a near-human variant Nejim thought; for he has seen Tanem do maneuvers in a fighter that no ordinary human could ever hope to survive. A true leader and pilot, if a bit unconventional, like his sometimes disdain for Military Regulations. Lurking underneath all this though was a very mysterious man with an even more mysterious past  
.  
Nejim took a seat and joined the rest of the Yavins in the festivities. Most of the Yavins were here.  
  
There was the squid headed Hanik Seese, Quarren pilot from Mon Cal. She was one of the first replacements for a fallen Yavin pilot, back when attrition frequently took the lives of many of the squadrons pilots. She mostly kept to herself. Even in battle. Except for when it came to Tanem. For some reason in battle she was fiercely protective of Tanem going as far as placing herself in the line of fire to take damage meant for him.  
  
Then there was the enigma, Elajul, a mysterious alien from some unknown race. Elajul is a strange creature with blue gelatin like skin, more of a translucent membrane than usual skin. Elajul was a variable. Sometimes short, sometimes taller, with a triangle shaped head and pointy earlike protrusions. No one knew whether or not Elajul was even a male or a female. The squadron didn't care, Elajul was an excellent pilot so nobody cared much either way, they just accepted her/him as part of the team. Elajul always answers such prying questions with a polite laugh and an 'outhere somewhere' or 'who knows' response. A strange alien with a weird sense of humor.  
  
Next was the insectiod Kak'besi. A rare male Mir'bishi from the planet Mir'bishi. He was a new member to the team, only flying with the Yavins on their last few missions. The Mir'bishi carapace is incredibly durable, allowing Kak' to easily handle the rigors of space combat. He was also an avid Mechanic preferring to maintenance his own fighter rather than let other technicians do it.  
  
There was Nataru Kawar a male Roujin from Roujinou, another recent appointee to the squadron. Roujin's bodies are also covered with a protective exoskeleton, but decidedly more flexible than other insect like species. On Roujinou, only a select minority of honored elite became pilots or leaders, a strange throwback to the feudal beliefs of ancient times in their world's history. The squad expected to have to deal with a stuck up, elite, pain in the ss when they first heard about his appointment. Instead Nataru turned out to be an extremely humble and honor bound person. A truly competent pilot as well.  
  
The next Yavin was the female Barabel, Raska Hara. A tough old lizard that had served in many a conflict during her years as a JADF pilot. She was accepted into the squadron after her last squadron was decimated by a pirate fleet of which she was the only survivor. Raska has nerves of steel staying in battle until the last possible moment, no matter how dangerous the situation, even when ordered to return to base. This has worried the Yavins, for no one really understands what sends her into such reckless behavior. Still, she is good friends with Elajul and Kash' the three seem to share the same sick sense of humor that confounds the other pilots.  
  
Last at the table, other than Giani was Esel Palv a human from Candrila. He was not really new to the squadron having served only for only 10-months, but hw was an old friend from Tanem's past. More of a flyer than a fighter pilot, in battle he tends to break out into wild but amazingly beautiful maneuvers leaving his opponents behind in a state of confusion. He is also a bit of a night-dweller and playboy, able to baffle his squadmates by being able to name and know at least 2 decent clubs or bars on any planet Yavin squadron happens to be on. A feat in itself. And though they were reluctant to admit it to him, the Yavins really have benefited from his time with the squadron.  
  
The only two missing was Vila Marik and Tybolt.  
  
Vila was an amphibian alien from the Verillu system. Verillu were another one of the founders of the Jenrai alliance. They were a species renown for their ship building technology and knowledge of spatial physics, they tended to make excellent navigators and pilots. Verillu are strange mixtures of fish and reptile, they have a long flat head with two large eyes. One on each side of their wide skulls. They are covered with a smooth and durable skin and posses a ridge of flat scales running from the top of their heads down to their muscled tales. Vila was a lovable person, the compassionate member of the team taking it upon herself to make sure everyone in the team felt great. She was also extremely talented, skilled as a medic, and known as writer, musician, teacher, and sometimes scientist. She would have been here tonight but was currently spending time with her relatives from distant Verillu.  
  
Tybolt also wasn't here, which didn't surprise anyone. Tybolt or GAM-U SR-1a as he was designated was a droid. A special droid, probably one of the few droid pilots many would ever meet. He, somehow over time, became able to pilot a starfighter and this he did quite well, especially since his droid body can take far more punishment than a living creatures. It is a mystery as to how his AI programming became so complex and where in the galaxy came from. Tybolt is a heavily modified Municipal droid that used to be produced by GAM Universal. Tybolt is said to be very old, perhaps around 300 years. Thought he is maybe more older than that, as he states he fought and piloted during the great Yuuzhan Vong War some 500 yrs ago. "I was one of the only of my kind fighting those droid hating bstards" as he likes to often state. He is a grim personality always thinking about odd things like fate, doom, and the deplorable status of droids in this galaxy. The squadron learned not to ask him to come out with then long ago as the majority of the public's disdain for of droids has caused many a dangerous altercation. Which is fine with Tybolt, since he doesn't care for "pointless fleshy" activities in the first place.  
  
"Hey Tanem!" said Kass loudly, "Remember Parson's Strait. That was some Sht, way before you rookies time though."  
  
"Rookie," Esel replied as he drank some more of his liquor. "I can certainly prove to you I am no rookie," Esel said suggestively, quieting Kass for a second and making her blush subconsciously. A smile and a raised eyebrow greeted her as she met his gaze. He said nothing more though, he knew when not to push his luck with his quick tempered wingmate.  
  
Though he didn't need to. Tanem raised a hand to interrupt Esel. He was still laughing softly at Esel's innuendo. "Yes I do remember the Straight. Talk about total Nightmare. We were so raged back then Kass. "  
  
"Yeah that was also the first time we ran into hornboy here," said Nejim laughing. "What were you in jail for..." Giani punched Nejim in the arm playfully.  
  
Giani laughed and growled, "Trumped up is what those charges were..."  
  
"So," Kash continued, "There we were...Me, the Commander, and the "boy" Nejim. Yavin was down to just us three at the time..........."  
  
There they sat, enjoying each others company and swapping the stories of their many adventures. It was an honored pastime among most pilots. But to the Yavins it was something more, reminiscing about their past missions helped put things in perspective. They reminded each pilot of what they went through and what they had accomplished. Of the need to live life to the fullest and of the old friends that died so they could do so. They were among all else survivors, and talking about all the trials they survived helped settled their minds about the coming trails they would face. Or so they thought…


	7. Chapter 6

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Chapter 6  
  
_JAS Yvarra  
In Orbit above Jenrai _  
  
The Yvarra sat in orbit above Jenrai, as a large swarm of ships moved into position around her. This old vessel was the flagship for the mission into Sanc Union space, and the personal ship of Captain Etrum Abahn. It started life as a Kaut Drive Yards Perseverance class Heavy Cruiser. It was a large powerful vessel long and somewhat flat with a triangular hull. Some said it was reminiscent to a "mini" Super Star Destroyer. Mostly because of its exposed superstructure along the middle, and armored outer edges. The Yvarra has been damaged or crippled multiple times in its long career. Being rebuilt and put into service so many times no one can remember how many conflicts it has seen over the years. It finally ended up in the hands of the Jenrai Alliance and pressed into service as the flagship of the forces that fought at Merceles II. After Abahn's rise in the Navy he had it upgraded and refurbished again and the two have never parted since.  
  
"Ah, a beautiful sight isn't it Lt. Lesli."  
  
"Sir?" said the young Lieutenant, but Abahn didn't hear her as he was lost in the sight from the Yvarra's viewport. There surrounding the Yvarra was the Task force fleet lit by the glow of the Planet Jenrai. Ships of all sizes flew back and forth as the fleet prepared for departure. Large ships of the line lumbered into position surrounding the Yvarra. The beautiful lines of a Verillu Heavy Cruiser glided into view, its deadly weaponry visible from only a few hundred meters away. Ship tenders still berthed with other capital ships swarmed with droids and personnel doing last minute supply checks.  
  
L'hion Strike cruisers approached the fleet in a particular formation, heading under the Yvarra's belly as they passed. A sign of deferment and salute of leadership. _An honored greeting to respected allies. Lady Oruska must be in command._ Abahn saluted them as they approached, knowing she'd be looking.  
  
Carriers, Cruisers, Frigates, Transports; a beautiful site to behold surely, but also a deadly sight Abahn had to remind himself. A gathering of firepower that would more than likely be used in the coming days. Some of these fine ships would not be coming home, their crews lost forever. Abahn looked at young Lesli wondering if she would survive the coming trails. _Enough of that, _he told himself. _Best not to let yourself start thinking of the potentials._ He was in charge of this fleet and he would make sure as many of these fine people as possible made it back that was all he needed to think about at this time.  
  
He smiled at the young lieutenant sheepishly, "There is something amazing about seeing one's fleet gathering." He said with a content sigh.  
  
"That's our Captain Abahn, head in the clouds as usual," said a female voice from behind him. He turned to see his second in command walk onto the command deck of the bridge. She was a Bothan expatriate named Hesska Jysl. She had recently returned to duty after an extended leave of absence.  
  
"Where would you have it be, in the gutter?" he said jokingly. "Glad to have you back Hesska, I'm sure the crew is as well. They did so miss their loving mother."  
  
"Well someone has to raise these upstarts." She said, giving him a feral grin. "Alright people playtime is over! For I have returned!!" she said as she made her way down towards other sections of the bridge, chatting with long time colleges, yelling at others as she did so.  
  
Then another person entered the command deck, an older looking Zebrak in ambassadorial robes. He looked around, nodding to the impressive sight of the Yvarra's bridge before walking over to talk to the Captain  
  
"I believe we haven't meet," said the Zebrak man smiling graciously. "Ambassador Kiish of the Senatorium."  
  
"Captain Etrum Abahn, leader of this little expedition," said Abahn as he shook the other mans hand. He grinned before adding. "I must say, I am surprised to see you here so early."  
  
Kiish raised his hand in mock embarrassment. " I see my reputation has preceded me."  
  
"Forgive me heh heh. Seriously though, I've heard great things about you." Abahn said turning serious, "We could use the expertise. Diplomacy is a skill we militia forces are sorely lacking."  
  
"I'm more here for the excitement myself sir, "said a smiling Kiish. "How soon until we depart."  
  
"The fleet should be ready in a few more hours, then the "excitement" begins, though it probably won't be to your liking."  
  
"Trust me I can handle it."  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
A few hours had passed and the fleet stood ready. All forty ships assembled in transport formation awaiting the orders to depart. A rather large show of force by Jenrai standards.  
  
"All ships prepped and ready sir, you orders." said Lt. Commander Jysl.  
  
Abahn nodded. "As planned we will proceed to the Filarhah system on the outer edges of Sanc Union. Hopefully we can gain more information about the situation before heading deeper into their territory. Lt. Commander give to the order to jump.  
  
"Ok people, lets get moving." Jysl yelled to the bridge crew. " All Ships proceed to hyperspace."  
  
The mighty Jenrai Taskforce formed up, and en masse jumped to hyperspace. Operation Relief Effort set into motion

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Nejim hug upside down, immersed in the wires and parts of his fighter. Virtually alone in this part of the ships cavernous hanger bay. During long hyperdrive trips he always felt bored and anxious. Even after all the missions he had been on during his career he still felt anxious. So Nejim liked to make himself useful during this time, to help clear his thoughts. Such as running maintenance on his starfighter. He always liked that, tinkering with his fighter always seemed to take his mind off of the outside universe.  
  
Nejim lay face down on the aft part of his starfighter's fuselage. He sat up and turned to grab a set of tools out of his nearby kit. "Ok, Tier run the diagnostic again, how does it look, " said Nejim. A set of seemingly random blurbs echoed back from his astromech droid, but Nejim was partially "versed" in simple binary, and it did not sound too good. "Just great then, isolate that system and give me a few minutes I think I have it. Just a few more calibrations."  
  
Tier was Nejim's astromech droid, a relatively newer R12 unit. Though it did start life as a relatively older R2 unit, Nejim spent the money to upgrade it after he inherited it. Tier was named in memory of his father. Ironic in that it inherited some of his father's spirit and stubbornness. _Though at least this droid is dependable and honest…. nothing like him. Him…which is the real reason my mind is in such turmoil. The Paets have returned to Sanc space, and its as if the area is outraged just by my presence here. Dn you father, everyone of you.._ Nejim's family had dark history within this region, a secret he managed to keep from everyone around him. Going back into Sanc space where he may end up slamming into his heritages past was worrying him, but as a JADF Pilot it was his duty. _Maybe I shouldn't worry to much. I'm just an anonymous pilot, there is no way I could run into.._  
  
Tier's harsh beeps echoed to him, bringing him out of his reverie. The beeps came again. "What!? No I do not need you to help, give me a little credit Tier." Nejim slung his torso over the side of the fighter's fuselage once again immersing himself in the machines innards. It was a few minutes after that when he heard someone speak to him. He looked "down" to see that it was Captain Abahn of all people. Saluting the man from upside down, he rolled his body forward and executed a small flip off of the fighter landing on his feet.  
  
"Impressive trick," said Abahn raising one eyebrow. He walked over and shook the other man's hand.  
  
"Not really sir, fall enough times and bust your back, you learn a few tricks." Nejim replied as he clasped Abahn's hand. "Pleasure to be serving under you again Capt. Abahn."  
  
"Pleasure to have you Yavins with us again, or at least some of you Yavins anyway. The rest are just as much trouble as I remembered them."  
  
Nejim nodded smiling. "Anything I can do for you sir,"  
  
"Not really, just looking for Tanem, figured he'd be down here. There's a few things I need to discuss with him."  
  
"Oh, you might want to try his quarters. Tanem usually disappears like this before a mission, sometimes secreted away in his quarters. I always think it's that Tanem grabs as much sleep as he can before a big mission. I wish I could do that."  
  
Abahn nodded his head knowingly, "I've got the Jitters as well Lt. Paet maybe that's why I'm wondering around."  
  
Nejim laughed a bit before adding, "Actually sir I'm a captain these days, like you."  
  
"Ah, you Space Force boys and your odd ranks," Abahn said jokingly. "Seriously though Nejim I am pleasantly surprised, you finally accepted some command responsibility. I remember back when you were the shyest fighter pilot this side of a Chadra-Fan. I never pegged you as wanting to be an officer."  
  
"Time with the Yavins has really changed me sir, I guess. Still, Capt. I couldn't have been that bad."  
  
"I didn't mean that in a bad way, there are far worse things a pilot can be. Sure you were a little people wary, but damn you were one of the bravest men I knew back then." Abahn said pausing, reminiscing about that terrible day, "I still remember that shot at Merceles. That madman Tanem had volunteered his squadron to make a suicide run on the Emporia, he went against my orders, and its funny, you pilots followed him without a moments hesitation. That ship was horribly defended yet you pilots braved that hailstorm anyway. How many did you lose on the first run, half?"  
  
"Yeah about that much," said a somber Nejim. "Five good pilots gone in the bat of an eye."  
  
"Yet still you all went back at her again. I remember even Tanem getting ready to pull out or perhaps to die. But one young pilot lined up and fired one of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen. The Emporia was done, and the fleet panicked. That was the day one torpedo brought down an entire fleet." Abahn said proudly.  
  
Nejim hung his head bashfully, "Sir surely you exaggerate. Besides it was mostly luck, I just had a... I don't know a….feeling, and pulled the trigger. Who knew how things would turn out, I expected to be dead in the next 10 seconds. I remember letting out a wordless scream that still haunts me. Only three Alphas made it back that day, we thought we were going to die for sure. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today."  
  
Seeing Nejim's reaction he added "Thankfully you didn't. Nejim let me let you get back to your work, sorry to bring up old conflicts like that… that day changed a lot of lives kid. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, even after all these years."  
  
"I don't think any of us that were there can stop thinking about it either sir."  
  
Abahn nodded solemnly and saluted Nejim, "Let me let you get back to your work. I shall go find Colonel Vekk now. Thanks." With that he turned and walked towards the hanger bay exit.  
  
"Its no problem Capt. Abahn," he said to the departing Captain. When Abahn was gone he turned back to his Varia fighter and his Droid, his mind a swirl of dark thoughts and memories. "Ok Tier back to work, lets run that diagnostic one more time," he said grabbing a latter to get back up on his fighter. There were modifications to be done, and things to forget.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
_Filarhah System, Sanc space_  
  
The fleet exited Hyperspace intact. All its ships pouring out into real space.  
  
"Everything seems to be in order," said Abahn. His ship had just initiated a check, turning up no problems resulting from the jump. "Lt. Commander Jysl contact Commander Hime on the Yaig. I want to use that ships sensors to divulge as much information about the area as possible."  
  
"A problem sir, I'm having trouble reaching the Yaig. Infact it seems most of our fleet is unable to contact each other. Some kind of interference, its disrupting the sensors as well."  
  
Lt. Lesli, the ships communications officer looked up from her station. "She's right sir, I can't raise most of the fleet's ships. Only those within close proximity sir, and still it's a little distorted. How is this possible?"  
  
Capt. Abahn sat back in his chair worried, the enemies ability to jam comm. signals was a bit more disorienting than expected. "Ok, we didn't expect the Filarhah system to already be under the invaders comm. blackout. That means, one that our info was off, and two that the aliens have expanded their operations if even Filarhah is effected. This poses serious problems for us. Lt. Lesli contact all the Ship Captains in the fleet, tell them to meet me here. Try a direct laser transmission, if that fails we'll have to do it by fighter."  
  
Hesska Jysl eyed him grimly, the fur on her neck raised in agitation, "This does not bode well for us Captain."  
  
"I'd have to agree with you. Well let's see what we can scrape up LC."  
  
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8 hours later with all the Ships informed and ready the fleet was again prepared for departure. This time into a totally unknown situation. Plans upon plans had been drawn up, and the fleets Command staff finally felt sure of a path of action. They would proceed to the Sanc Prime, the Capital of the Sanc Union. Hopefully contacting the area's rulers as planned would help them find an effective way to deal with these invaders.  
  
"Attention Crew, this is Captain Abahn speaking. I'm sure all of you have been briefed on our situation. The aggressors' ability to jam our communications is troubling, but tight short-range beam transmissions still seem to work. Fighter pilots should not be affected too heavily as the distortion effect is less effective at close ranges. Soon the fleet will be making its way to Sanc Prime. Hopefully upon meeting with them and establishing a plan of support, we will find a way to overcome this most disorienting technology. First though, we will make a stop over in the Leistat system to make the final course correction for Sanc Prime. This trip should take us about 5 hours. I want this ship on full Alert, as we do not know when we will engage the enemy. All pilots I want you fully prepped and ready for immediate launch. That is all."  
  
"Well sir the fleet is ready to jump to hyperspace. Though it wont be an exactly uniform one, Orders sir?" said Hesska Jysl.  
  
"That's as good as we can hope for. Looks like we're ready anyway. Give the order."  
  
The Yvarra picked up speed and accelerated to Hyperspace. One by one the ships of the Jenrai Alliance fleet followed suit, not able to jump in synchronization. The unknown invaders technology making such coordination impossible. The harbringer of things to come perhaps.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
The Yvarra's main flight bay was alive with the sounds off people toiling away. Given the Captain's recent orders everyone was scrambling to make sure the ships compliment of starfighters were ready for any potential threat. The Yavins were there as well gathered in a small group off to the side of their fighters.  
  
"Alright Yavins listen up," sounded the voice Tanem Vekk. His usually clam demeanor replaced by a strange neutral readiness. "I've got a feeling that pretty soon we will be engaging the enemy. I think we need to get our minds composed."  
  
Elajul seemed amused by this. "What's that commander? You a jedi now?" she joked, Elajul was using a feminine voice again these days.  
  
"I don't know about that stuff El. It's just that the stage seems set for an attack," he said. "I want us to be more than ready. We will mostly likely be the first ones engaging the enemy. We can't afford to be slack, what with the unknown aliens' abilities, and us flying blindly into possibly hostile territory. There are too many variables, and that I don't like." The others noticed that Tanem seemed out of character. He was usually so calm and collected, he never seemed nervous before a mission; it was odd. The other pilots picked up on the mood of their leader easily.  
  
"No prob, Tanem. We'll be extra vigilant don't worry. We've encountered our fair share of strange enemies. These guys will be no different I bet." said Esel Pavl. " Its gonna be a piece of Ryscate, until we get to Sanc that is."  
  
"I agree with the Captain," said the usually quiet Nataru Kawar. "Perhaps Esel-sa it would be wise to be cautious in this situation."  
  
"Worry is pointless," rasped the mechanical voice of Tybolt. The robot turned to leave and then added, "We have an enemy to face, it does not matter what we do or do not know about them. They must be fought sooner or later. And That is all I need to know." With that said Tybolt left the group, seemingly uninterested in the musings of his fellow pilots. "You'll all forgive Tybolt," said Villa Marik, covering for her wingmate, "He's been having…problems." Tanem raised one eyebrow to this bit of information.  
  
Just then an announcement came over the intercom. "All crew ready stations, we are exiting hyperspace."  
  
"Well Tybolt, does have a point," said Nejim. Nejim seemed aloof, as if distracted by something. "But I think that the Colonel is right, something does feel strange about this whole situation, something is going to happen. Probably shouldn't wander to far from our Varias."  
  
Tanem Vekk nodded to Nejim in agreement. After discussing a few other issues he dismissed them. Tanem then turned and strode towards his starfighter. Hanik Seese, his wingmate followed close behind, as always.  
  
"I think you guys are being overly paranoid," Esel said to Nejim and Giani as they strode towards their fighters. "We've been out of warp for a while now and there hasn't been an alert." Nejim just shrugged as he and Giani strode over to their ships and got ready to check them.  
  
Alarm Sirens began to sound and Captain Abahn's voice echoed over the comm. system. "All crew alert! Enemy has been sited, report to your designated positions. We are about to engage unknown hostiles! I want all fighters out of my bay now!!"  
  
Nejim looked across the bay to were Esel Pavl had just sat down in his fighter's cockpit and gave the other man a jovial smirk. _I was kinda hoping I was wrong,_ he thought, _Today does not seem like a good day to be piloting._


	8. Chapter 7

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All right time for some Action. The first Contact nightmare. Let know if my writing of this battle turned out ok. I worked hard on it. Also point out errors if you notice them.

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Chapter 7  
  
"What the Hell!!" blasted Captain Abahn, "Where is my Fleet!"  
  
The Yvarra had just exited hyperspace upon reaching the Leistat system. Everything seemed to be fine, until they looked at their scanners. That's when they discovered that the rest of the Jenrai Alliance fleet had disappeared…  
  
"This is impossible," said the frantic Junior Lt. Faye, the bridge's navigation officer. She checked over her displays for perhaps the fifth time in as many minutes. " We........the calculations were not flawed. Even despite our non-synchronized hyperspace jump the rest of the fleet should have shown up by now. They should definitely be within visual range. It doesn't make sense..."  
  
"Perhaps there was a flaw in our jump calculations," said Lt. Lesli, the comm. officer. She was also more than a little panicked as well, though she tried to hide it.  
  
"Can't be." Said Faye, she was getting more disheveled with each passing moments. "We put too much work into those calculations to....."  
  
"Dn," said a suddenly very weary Abahn. "Our forces could be spread all over the place."  
  
"Or worse," said an equally weary Hesska Jysl. "What the Hell happened. This thought made the crew eerily silent.  
  
Captain Abahn sat back in his seat and let out a long sigh. _This is turning into a full scale fiasco,_ thought Abahn. With each passing second things could escalate. _Better hold the crew together, give them something._ Decided, he got up and walked to the lower sections of the deck. "Ok. Lets try and salvage the situation," barked Abahn. "Lt. Faye I want you to work with Omwan. You two will go over the hyperspace coordinates and the hyperdrive. We need to figure out what in the Sith happened to us and the fleet.  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"Lt. Lesli I want you scanning all frequencies. I know that it's not much hope with the jamming, but perhaps it will turn up something useful."  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
"Lt. Mirindi. I want you to try to discern anything using our scanners. Then I want you to use the ships optical scanners. Put an eye out, perhaps some of our ships are scattered all over this system and they are with in visual range."  
  
"Yes sir!" said the bridge's Verillu sensor officer. She immediately began working at her station.  
  
As Abahn began issuing orders to the rest of the bridge crew, Ambassador Kiish entered the bridge looking for an update on their situation. Hesska Jysl had just finish bringing him up to speed as the Captain walked over. "Quite the mess we are in Mr. Abahn."  
  
"I'm praying that it is not as bad as it seems. Ambassador Kiish do you have any information about this area. Any help would be most useful."  
  
"Well Captain, I've been though Leistat before. This is a prime hyperspace crossroad for much of Sanc. I'm sure there might be some ships around, probably disoriented like us. With the comm. signals jammed up."  
  
Abahn nodded his agreement. "LC see about getting our fighters out on recon. Hopefully something will turn up."  
  
"Captain!!" yelled the musical voice of Lt. Mirindi. " I have something sir. You have to see this!" Abahn didn't like the sound of this. "Bring it up the main viewer."  
  
The screen resolved itself into view, the image was a little spotty, perhaps because of the level of magnification. But the sight itself was more than understandable. It was a battle. It seemed that there were a large number of random ships under attack, unarmed transports from the look of them. Around the ships could be seen unknown objects buzzing about in combat. Energy fire flashed back and forth. Occasionally there was an explosion.  
  
"Sir, it must be a Sanc convoy from the looks of it. Could these be the unknown alien aggressors sir."  
  
"Perhaps, either way we have to help them. I want those Ships intact. LC take us to active alert, and get the crew ready for battle! Mirindi clean up this data and send it to the tactical officer. I want a clear idea of what we are dealing with."  
  
Alarm Sirens began to sound as Captain Abahn returned to his command seat on the upper bridge. He patched into the ships comm. system. and his voice echoed over ship. "All crew alert! Enemy has been sited, report to your designated positions. We are about to engage unknown hostiles! I want all fighters out of my bay now!!" Abahn was sweating, uncertainty was eating at him. The prospect of an unexpected battle did not sit well with most commanders. He considered the variables of the situation, trying to determine what to do. Of all the time this could happen, especially without his fleet. "Tactical what have we got!"  
  
"Tac. Com. has cleaned up the image a bit, hold on sir. We have about 34 ships, mostly transports. There seems to be 36 unknown enemy contacts identified. There were other starfighter contacts, they seem to have been destroyed. Also we have identified a large unknown contact. Probably a small capital ship of some sort. Its fast Sir!"  
  
"Relay that to the fighter squadrons and have them head for the battle immediately. ETA?"  
  
"I estimate ETA to battle 20 to 25 minutes for the Yvarra. 5 to 8 minutes for all 5 of our squadrons."  
  
"Sir!," said Mirindi, "We have another contact. This one's bigger. It seems to be en route to the battle. Its probably a Cruiser sized capital ship. Potential fire power unknown. Given current speed its ETA is 10 to 20 minutes until it arrives at the battle."  
  
"Frag! Get me a comm. patch to Tanem Vekk! Faye set an intercept course for that thing, we have to shield that convoy!"  
  
_--------------------------------_  
  
Urgency forced Tanem to perform a hurried preflight check. Secretly he hated to go out under such circumstances. He liked to go at things as he willed it, under his own pace, not that he would ever tell anyone this though. A blurt of noise from his astromech droid, Navi, told him that his starfighter was ready for launch. He switched off his repulsor-lift thrusters as he brought his fighter to the edge of the containment shield, and slipped out of the Yvarra's ventral bay. The rest of the Yavins followed him out perfectly in tight formation, and a little smiled played on his lips at the display. They were the first out and already throttling towards their designated targets. The rest of the ships squadrons would also soon be deployed and following the Yavins into the battle. Their Varia fighters still in "highspeed" configuration, the Yavins would probably reach the battle fastest providing a greater chance to the Convoy under attack.  
  
Ailera's VF-12 Varia starfighter was one of the newer and most versatile fighters in the Jenrai Defense Force arsenal. It was a fighter possessed of angular lines and a triangular fuselage that housed the cockpit and the astromech. It featured strong shields, and 2 high-powered lasers. Beams strong enough to provide a sufficient punch yet still allowed for an incredible rate of fire. It held a magazine of 8 proton torpedoes with two launchers. The Varia is a marvel, a variable wing design, a starfighter capable of incredibly agile maneuverability or blinding speed depending on the wing configuration. With its wings "swept back" it provided more energy to be transferred to the engines, greatly increasing speed. With the wings extended it directs energy to help with maneuvering and vernier thrust, increasing agility. There wasn't much the Varia couldn't do in the hands of truly talented pilots.  
  
Tanem opened a comm. channel to the pilots racing towards the melee in the distance, "OK people listen up, looks like we are up first. Our fastest ships will try and hit the vanguard attacking the transport. No time to arrive by squadrons or groups, every fighter that can get to the battle is one more chance for the convoy."  
  
Squawking from Navi interrupted him. It was a message from Captain Abahn. "Yes Captain, Vekk here."  
  
Abahn began speaking but already it was a bit distorted, Navi did what it could. "Tanem I need the Yavins to engage a large enemy contact approaching the fleet. It looks like it could reach the convoy before we can. It could spell disaster. I need your team to try to slow whatever it is down and if possible destroy it. LaSorta can handle the convoy. Data being sent to you now."  
  
_How much more complicated could things get._  
  
He opened a com to the other pilots, "OK Yavins listen up. We have a new objective. We're to attack the larger ship. Designated Cruiser. Vila?"  
  
"ETA 7 minutes at first estimation," the Verillu responded.  
  
The Yavins switched course ever so slightly, drawing themselves away from the rest of the fighter vanguard. The large enemy ship was visible now even from here, so was the convoy and the enemies that were swarming it. Tanem checked his data display. It looked like the other squadrons would get to the convoy before the Yavins reached the larger ship. The first engagement between two rival forces, forces that didn't even know each other's capabilities. _A horrid first contact nightmare. _Tanem shook his head to clear it, he just couldn't shake the frustration in his emotions, there were too many unknown variables.  
  
_--------------------------------_  
  
"Dn," said Captain Abahn for the fifth time in as many minutes. "Those few minutes until we join the battle could be the determining factor for thousands."  
  
Hesska Jysl checked over the captain out of the corner of her eye. He looked like a man being tortured by Thalassian slave breakers. The enemy was before him, attacking innocents instead of him, and he could do nothing about it. Perhaps he was being tortured... "Sir, hopefully our fighter's can make the difference. And let's not count out the Yavins." Even as the Bothan spoke another large explosion could be seen emanating from the convoy. _Another thousand lives....._  
  
Ambassador Kiish stood at the front of the bridge, eyes fixed on the spectacle of the battle. He was just as disturbed by the transpiring events, though he tried to maintain a strong front. "Those people, we'll probably never know their names....." He said keeping his voice even. "Hopefully we will manage to save the others. We could certainly use any information they have to help us fight these...._cursed Jetats._ he spit.  
  
"Uh sir shouldn't you be in a safer place?" said Lt. Faye.  
  
_--------------------------------_  
  
"Sir I have multiple contacts!" screamed Kasseopia. "4 groups of 4 unknowns, probable fighters."  
  
Vila chimed in "I concur with that. 16 unknowns approaching from the Cruiser." Her species eyes providing her with an excellent grasp on the situation.  
  
_Things just got more complicated........._  
  
"Frag it's an escort," said Tanem Vekk as he quickly surveyed the situation. "They look a little loose for a squad formation," he said as the enemy came into view. The heads up display painting each target in a glow of bright red. The 16 targets came at them in groups of four. _Maybe their unit formation type?_ he asked himself. "Ok Yavins lets break by threes, see if we can't even the odds some."  
  
"ETA 1 Minute," Vila broadcast.  
  
The Varias broke into three pilot formation, as they had been trained, as easily as if by their normal two person units. Nejim checked his display, Yavin 4 and Yavin 6 were tucked in tight formation behind him, Kak'besi and Giani Jin. They formed a roughly triangular formation with Nejim in the lead. He brought his fighter up and towards the nearest enemy group, the distance closing quickly. "Wings forward," he commanded. The Varia's wings swept forward, locking the fighter into high maneuver configuration.  
  
His HUD highlighted the enemies. Nejim could see them now. Odd shaped craft, smaller than he thought. They looked like reversed triangular wings, with nacelles on the end. He could see the engine block on the back of the wingshaped craft because of the glow of the propulsion unit. It pulsed with odd white and light blue energy. The ship was gold and brass colored, with white trim.  
  
"Little mingan yims are fast!" Nejim heard Elajul say over the comm. Fire from starboard caught his attention, Giani had opened fire. The enemies nimbly dodged it. They closed to effective firing range. Both sides trading a volley of fire as they quickly passed each other. The enemies energy shots were very strange, not what Nejim expected. The enemy ships fired small white and light blue bursts of energy, ovoid in shape, swiring like balls of electricity. The shots came fast and furious. Nejim hauled back on his stick, maneuvering out of their path. He brought his fighter up in a long loop hoping to gain superior advantage on the opponents. He quickly checked his scanner, two were on his tail. _That was fast! We just passed them!_ Still he preferred having them following him instead of his men, it would give them a chance to deal with there opponents evenly.  
  
"Fraggers are little aren't they! Must be some small aliens." said Giani over the comm.  
  
"They are very nimble as well," cackled the insectiod voice of Kak'besi. "Very nimble."  
  
The enemies behind Nejim opened fire, sending shots flashing past him. A few glanced off of his shields setting off alarm klaxon in his cockpit. Then expectantly came Tier's shrieks of protest. "Dammit I am maneuvering, these things are pretty sticky. Tier keep power to those rear shields!" Nejim jacked the stick hard to starboard trying to lose his tail, the enemy fighters weren't budging from his tail. Two of the energy bursts struck his rear shields badly draining energy and rattling Nejim's Varia. _Shit those things pack a punch._ Tier's protests became shrieks of panic as it surveyed the situation. "No you do not need to take over I.............shut the hell up, and stop distracting me! Hold on tight." It was time to get these pests off of his tail. Nejim threw the fighter into a sharp roll to port and into a dive, holding it for as long as he could. He killed the dive, simultaneously cutting back speed, then throwing the Varia into a roll to starboard. Even with his inertial compensator dialed down to 95 percent, the G forces acting on him were brutal, spots appeared before his eyes. He checked his scanner the trick worked. One of the fighters had been thrown off of his tail completely; the other still hung behind him, but loosely. _Time to even this out a bit._  
  
"Firing torp!" called Giani. "What the F......"  
  
Nejim had no time to inquire as to what happened. He brought his fighter around in a quick loop setting his sights on one of the curious craft. The designator locked quickly as he switched to use his own proton torpedoes. The ships targeting computer relying on optical scanners for a lock instead of electronic signals. The fighter in front of Nejim tried to throw him off as if he fired a few simple shots to box it in, he stayed on it though. _One of the advantages of an optical lock. No electronic warning to the enemy._ He squeezed the trigger sending the torpedo sailing out to meet its target in a flash of light. It closed the distance incredibly quickly, but as it approached the small fighter something odd happened. In a move Nejim would have though not mortally possible, it flung itself to starboard, dodging the missile. It tore off at an almost insane angle, even for a fighter with inertial compensators. "What the F!!....."_That was near point-black range! Impossible!_ "Nothing alive could have done something like that and still live," he said mostly to himself. Now he understood Giani's yell of frustration. He opened a comm. to the others Yavins. "Y5 here, make sure to set torpedoes to proximity burst. I don't know how, but these thing can dodge them at close range!"  
  
"Copy that," replied Tanem over the comm., "I just found out myself." That was the problem with proton torpedoes. They did pack an enormous amount of destructive power and possessed blinding speed, but it was this same speed that made then unreliable in tracking fast moving targets. If one was fast enough they could dodge the deadly projectile and have it overshoot its target. These enemy starfighters were fast enough, but even Nejim didn't believe they could be dodged at that range, not when the torps speed was an advantage rather than a disadvantage.  
  
Nejim again found his target and again managed to place a lock on the ship. Tier beeped alerting him to the enemy still on his tail. His ship shook as another burst hit his shields. Nejim gritted then fired again sending a torpedo towards his foe. The projectile closed the distance and it looked as if the fighter might dodge again. At the last moment the torpedo exploded in a torrent of flame engulfing the enemy fighter. It hurtled out of the fireball in an out of control spin. _Must have been its shields, impressive._ Nejim flared his teeth as he locked on and fired with his lasers. Healthy beams of green energy lanced out to his enemy, hitting it squarely, and destroying it. But it took a few more shots than expected. Nejim nodded, satisfied.  
  
Shots passed his cockpit again reminding him of the enemy on his tail. His ship rocked from another hit. Tier screeched and alarms when off in the cockpit. His shields were down! Panicking he looked on his display, and saw Kak'besi dancing with an opponent near his position. _Good...._. "Tier see if you can divert power from somewhere and get the rear shields back up!" He flew towards Kak' his opponent trailing behind. He hoped this worked. "Kak',"he yelled, "Scratch your Back!"  
  
Kak'besi and Nejim closed the distance between each other, their oponents following respectively. They then broke off in a long roll, seemingly away from each other. Suddenly they veered off course, both now facing each other. A tone sounded as the computer locked on. Nejim fired. Apparently at Kak', and Kak' fired at him. Quickly Nejim pulled up on his stick as he saw Kak' dive "downwards." The torpedoes crossed paths in flash; flying through where the Varias had been and towards the chasing enemy fighters. Each torpedo struck their targets, in a brilliant display. Nejim heard the strange crackle that was the sound of a Mir'bishi laughing. "OK lets go help Giani......"  
  
_--------------------------------_  
  
Tanem gritted his teeth as he fired one more round of shots. This time the enemy fighter exploded in a fierce ball of blue fire. His unit was clear of enemies. The Varias of Yavin 2 and Yavin 3, Hanik Seese and Elajul, formed up on his wing. "Lets go help the others."  
  
"AAAhhh!!!" came the odd scream over the comm.  
  
"Kawar! Punchout!" screamed Kasseopia R'hea. Tanem tensed as he heard an explosion and static came over his comm. There was silence for a long while.  
  
"Colonel, Kas' here. Kawar's EV!" rasped a relieved Kasheopia. "Nataru you scared the holy hell out of me!" Tanem heard her yell. Tanem checked over his scanner, there were only a few enemies left, those dueling with Vila's wing. He saw that Nejim's unit rushed to help her. "Sorry Kass' we'll have to leave him for now. Besides even if I wanted to I can't contact the Yvarra. Not at this range."  
  
"Understood," came her reply, almost calmly.  
  
"Yavin 10 here," said Esel Palv over the comm. "We're all clear Tanem."  
  
The intact Yavins returned to a closer formation as they raced towards the large cruiser. The convoy was visible to the right as Tanem looked out his cockpit window. A flurry of lights could be seen, the raging of a fierce battle. But Tanem had other worries right now, the monster before him. It was now a large object in all of their cockpits, a beautiful ovoid ship with a few bubble like protrusions doting its hull. Much like on a Mon Calamarian warship, but fewer. Its hull was a dazzling golden and bronze, with white trim just like the small fighters the Yavins had just engaged. It would have been a breathtaking sight, but Tanem knew better. Knew what its intent was. He had to stop it.  
  
"Sir!" rasped the harsh reptilian voice of Raska Hara. "I am detecting more enemies coming from the darkside of the Crusier analog." Tanem checked his own optical scanners.  
  
"I confirm that Yavin 8, looks like four of them. Must be more of those strange little fighters. Navi's says he is not sure though. OK, Vila, your wing is with me. We'll engage the fighters. Kasseopia take Nejim's wing and make a run on the cruiser. We will handle these new contacts or at the least keep them off of your back."  
  
"Copy" came the replies. "Break." The Varias broke formation Six starfighters racing towards the incoming four enemies. The other five staying the course and heading for the large enemy cruiser.  
  
_--------------------------------_  
  
Sir, seems the Yavins have finally reached the Cruiser. They had a little trouble with enemy fighters." Reported the cool voice of Lieutenant Mirindi.  
  
"Thank you," replied Abahn, a little distracted. The Yvarra had gained impressive distance and was now with in range of the battlefield. At least enough to gain rudimentary data on the battle. The alien interference was terribly taxing on his ability to command this battle. He had been out of contact with his forces for too long. And it was too soon to determine the situation in the battle. Of the 48 fighters he sent to defend the convoy 16 were destroyed. Many by that fast moving gunship analog. At least they had occupied the enemies attention, and allowed the convoy time to try and escape. 15 of the strange enemy fighters had been destroyed relatively quickly, largely thanks to superior numbers. "Now if only they could slow it down," Abahn said out loud.


	9. Chapter 8

"_Being a Jedi isn't just about using the Force. it's a commitment to a certain way of doing things - a certain way of looking at things…." _Jacen Solo.

* * *

_  
Well I haven't quit this project. This is for sure. I have been busy working on another story full effort. Two prologues and two/three chapters ready. Once they are done I will break away from them and go full speed on this story again._

I already have a new chapter ready. It just needs some reworking before its ready.

_What I did with this was merge this chapter 8 with my old chapter 9. To make this combined Chapter 8. This should condense the battle down some. It really is unnecessary to spread it out over 4 chapters. And add more per chapter. I put some in chapter 10 as well. _

_Bare with me and enjoy this revised version. New comers thanks as well._

_Been awhile so

* * *

_

**Dramatis Personae **

Etrum Abahn, Captain, Leader JADF Taskforce  
Heska Jysl, Lieutenant Commander, Female Bothan.  
Denan Kiish, Ambassador, Jenrai Councilman, Male Zebrak

Yavin 1- Tanem Vekk, Commander, Near Human  
Yavin 2- Hanik Seese, Female Quarren  
Yavin 3- Elajul, Race Unknown

Yavin 4- Kak'besi, Male Mir'bishi  
Yavin 5- Nejim Paet, Captain  
Yavin 6- Giani Jin, Male Deveronian

Yavin 7- Nataru Kawar, Male Roujin  
Yavin 8- Raska Hara, Female Barabel  
Yavin 9- Kasseopia R'hea, Major, Female L'hion

Yavin 10- Esel Palv  
Yavin 11- Vila Marik, Female Verillu  
Yavin 12– Tybolt, Droid

* * *

_  
Chapter 8_

Major Beil LaSorta grinned as he followed his target under a fat transport. It was a crazy chase but LaSorta had him and he wasn't letting up. His pursuit jetted to port trying to angle away from him and towards the underside of another largeship. "Not this time you little son of a gundark!" LaSorta fired off a concussion missile from his fighter. It tracked the enemy closing on its target and exploded, the enemy fighter tumbled off into space. LaSorta found his target and fired, finishing the job. _Can't shake Concussion missiles that easy can you. They are not as simple to evade as torpedoes. Relatively anyway._

"Sir," rasped his second in command. "Looks like the enemy is thinning out. We practically have them on the run. That big gunship thing is still causing havoc with our fighters though."

"Good Fielle. Take the remainder of Lian's Wing and Jade Wing and mop up the remaining enemies. The rest of you on me, lets take out that Gunship." He looked on his scanner 22 fighters lined up with him to attack the gunship analog. _Now to finish the job. This shouldn't be too difficult. _

Major LaSorta looked outside his canopy. The weird ship was already heading away from the battle towards open space. It was smaller in size than an old Rebel Blockade Runner, to use the common nickname. But it was faster and more maneuverable than anything LaSorta had seen that size. 60 percent of its length was the ovoid shape of its hull. A long "tail" protruded from the back of the hull, and the ship had two wing protrusions on the side of the hull. It kind of reminded LaSorta of a Corellian PodWhale. LaSorta grinned, Y_ou're not getting away from me little fish._

The strange ship left the fringes of the convoy, heading in a course that would take it towards the oncoming Yvarra. As it approached ever closer, sections of the "tailfin" extended open on each side, uncovering what appeared to be racks.

Racks filled with many cylindrical devices.

Devices that appeared to be missiles.

"What in the Creator?"

In a brilliant display, dozens upon dozens of strange missiles shot out both sides of the "tailfin." Their propellant trails dazzling like the blossoming of an exotic flower. They ripped into the fighter vanguard, destroying many fighters and damaging others.

LaSorta could say nothing as four missiles closed on him, too close for him to even try to dodge.

"No...!" cried Lt. Mirindi. Even her unnatural calm cracked momentarily by the grimness of what she read. She composed herself quickly before reporting. "Terrible news Captain Abahn. The fighters trailing the gunship analog have been heavily damaged or destroyed. Some sort of missile spread."

"Damn! I was counting on those fighters." Abahn said. He was really getting tired of these surprises.

"Must have been some sort of Missile Frigate." Hesska Jysl grumbled. "Misinformation is killing us Sir."

Abahn shook his head. "The lost is bad I know LC. But the situation hasn't changed that much. The Convoy is actually out of the worst of its danger. Mirindi update please." Abahn seemed a little more calm as he said this. Having the civilians out of danger was a relief to him, despite the losses his people were suffering.

The Verillu quickly ran her eyes over the incoming data. " The enemy gunship...er missile frigate is headed on a direct course towards us and its picking up speed. There are 5 active survivors still following the enemy ship and harassing it. It seems there are about 9 of our fighters breaking off from the convoy, they are fighting with the few remaining enemy fighters. They are also now headed this way."

"Put that data up on the display please."

The computer updated all the information being shown on the forward view screen. All of what she said could now be seen. Abahn looked at the other sortie taking place. The Enemy Cruiser analog was also changing its course to engage the Yvarra. The designations of the Yavins flew towards its hull. Another group of Yavins were heading to combat a new force of fighters. _Good we drew them off.

* * *

_

The Cruiser loomed before them, almost to the point of taking up the whole Cockpit canopy. As they neared the ship opened up with a volley of fire. Large burst of energy flew towards them as they approached. Burst similar to the ones used by the enemy fighters except they were as large as a starfighter. Thankfully there did not seem to be anywhere near as many blasts coming at them like if they were to attack a Republic Star Destroyer. Kasseopia R'hea's voice came over the comm. "Get ready for attack run. Lets try a simultaneous barrage first."

The Varias spread out for the attack, no need to tempt fate by staying bunched together. They dodged nimbly around the incoming fire even though the ship's guns were very accurate in their ability to track the fighters. Nejim noticed that Giani barely dodged one of the bursts. _Could something be wrong with Giani? _He worried about that and was going to open up a channel but it was now time to fire. "OK open fire!" roared Kass' voice.

All at once they fired. The propellant trails from 10 torpedoes lit up the darkness as they spread towards the hull. They struck dead center, blossoming into a mini-supernova that rolled on the ships shields, engulfing it in a blast of light. It was a bit disorienting, but it lasted only a seconds. Finally the torrent ended, but the ship still remained, as if laughing at them. Seemingly unharmed.

"Dammit! What's that thing made off!" yelled Giani. Nejim had to admit it was a bit unsettling when any capship shrugged off a full torp barrage, not just this ship. But this ship was nowhere near as big as a ship that usually shrugged off that type of damage. _Could it be advanced shielding technology? _

"Don't jump the gun Yavin 6," said Kass', "We knew this might be a tough nut to crack. "Lets take another barrage, this time Nejim's wing launch 5 seconds after our volley."

They could only launch one more time before they would be forced to pull up and try another attack run. It was extremely risky even trying to fire another volley at this close a distance, but that was what Kasseopia R'hea was known for. Nejim just shook his head at the thought. Kass and Raska Hara fired their torps, and Nejim started counting. He saw a large burst of energy coming towards him and was forced to dodge it. He quickly lined up his shots and fired, a few seconds behind the others. These torpedoes also hit blossoming into another supernova of energy. The fighters broke off at the last minute. Strangely, or perhaps more frighteningly, the enemy fire came at them faster and more accurately. These blasts seemed smaller than the others; it was an intense hail of energy. It was all Nejim could do to keep out of it.

That was when he saw tragedy. As he pulled up in a long loop back towards his entry vector he looked out of his cockpit and saw one beam clip Kak'besi's Varia sending it into a crazed spin. Then as if gloating, a turret on the enemy ship fired at Kak's starfighter with a full powered blast.

Wiping him away. There was nothing left.

"KAAAAAK!"

* * *

The gunship came ever closer towards the Yvarra. Even with the Yvarra firing its forward guns it did not stop. The smaller ship proved quite stubborn in the damage it could take. Even with is hull scared with many bruises it still came on.

"Interesting... it's shields are back up again. What an obstinate ship." Reported the flat voice of Omwan.

"And it's still coming. What is their plan? How could they hurt us if they are that damaged?" said Lt. Lesli, as she was shaking her head confused.

Another officer added. "At present their momentum is too great to..."

"Captain!" yelled Ambassador Kiish.

"I know...I know, they are trying to ram us." Said Captain Abahn very nonchalant. A few of the other who still hadn't figured it out gasped in surprise. " I was waiting for the right moment. Omwan fire up the tractor beams. Faye get ready to fire our forward repulsors, I knew we might need them. Hold, and initiate on my command. Tell the fighters to prepare for a forward volley. They'll know when."

Everyone stood tense as the enemy ship barreled towards them.

"Hold..." Someone breathed hard trying to release tension.

"Hold..." The enemy ship almost filled the entire viewport.

"Hold..." Everyone had their eyes on Abahn.

He scowled at them. _Damn._ "OK now! Omwan, Faye go."

Only then did Omwan put as much power into the tractor beams as he could. It hammered into the gunship pushing it up and off course. Still the thing grazed the Yvarra. The shields shrieked and sparked as the two large ships skinned each other. Death seemed imminent if the shields collapsed. The entire ship rattled as if in pain. The crew was thrown everywhere.

"Now Kiki!" The young Navigations officer barely hesitated as she fired up the repulsors. This last bit of force was all that was needed to push the gunship analog off course, it scraped by… barely. "All Guns able… Fire!"

All of the guns that could track fired at the passing ship. An intense storm of energy rammed into the back of the gunship analog crippling it. The surviving fighters let loose every missile or torpedo they had ready. This was the stake through the heart. Explosions blossomed and engulfed the gunship, seconds later it exploded in a giant burst of blue, adding to the inferno.

Everyone yelled in celebration. Even the pilots could be heard over the comm. system. Abahn smiled, they needed some sort of victory, especially after all that had happened. But he quickly reminded them about the enemy at hand.

"LC! Put those fighters to work, have them back up the Yavins." He said looking around. A few faces turned serious again as the danger of the situation overrode their previous happiness. A few bridge crewmembers were still getting up off the ground from the close call. "Snap to people! We still have another enemy ship to take out!" he yelled, hoping to get their spirits up. The odds looked much better, now to save his friends. _Please hold on Yavins!

* * *

They came from the shadow of the enemy Cruiser analog, speeding towards Tanem and his five fellow Yavins. They must have used their own ship to cover their approach. Tanem figured this was true because surely if they were launched from the Cruiser they would have swarmed Kass' team already. Instead the enemies were on an intercept course with Tanem, or more accurately, with his Yavins. He scowled at them heavily, "They must have accepted our challenge," he said to himself. Something about that idea bothered him, but he found a smile anyway. He had diverted them from Kass and Nejim for the moment. Kass, whose team was currently making a run on the bow of the Cruiser Analog, those pilots had enough problems._

Tanem whistled as Navi designated the enemies on his heads-up display. 4 new enemies bracketed in yellow approaching at incredible speeds. Far faster than Tanem expected.

(THEY ARE DIFFERENT). Navi, his Astromech Droid, blurted out. It enlarged the image as much as it could, though static kept it from being a totally clear picture. Still it was good enough for him to see that they were beautiful… It was different than the other starfighters the Yavins encountered on the battlefield today. The hull was longer, more in relation to the fighters he was used to seeing. It reminded him of a winged animal. A smooth golden winged animal, with its ovoid hull and swept wings. "They certainly pay attention to design ascetic." He said as they approached. They flew in a severely tight formation, like a pack of empathic marine predators. Incredible precision.

"Watch it Yavins, these things aren't the same as the others." He advised.

"Worse I suspect," Elajul laughed. "It always gets worse."

"Hey this is a Tanem party remember," said Esel Pavl also laughing. "I'd be disappointed if it didn't."

They were almost within attack range now. "Stow the chatter dammit. We need Focus!" he yelled, thought a stubborn smile wouldn't leave his face.

The brief respite was over. The two opposing forces clashed in a frenzy of fire and return fire, of maneuver and engagement. The Yavins rushed the enemy ships in spread formation, everyone attacking from different angles, trying to use their number advantage to squeeze the enemy. The strange fighters did not flinch though; they stayed in formation maintaining course until they had almost barreled through the Yavins position, then they broke. The four enemies splitting off into four different directions, each the intercept of a Yavin. Again in eerie precision.

Tanem hard rolled to starboard, a fury of shots nipping his shields. He gritted his teeth as he flung the ship into a series of shaking maneuvers. He clipped off a few shots at his nearest opponent. It nimbly dodged the laser beams as if playing a game. It was quickly becoming apparent that these things were far above even the enemies they had fought earlier today. They were faster and tougher than the others. And despite their larger size, they were far more maneuverable than the smaller fighters. A certainty hit him as he guessed what they might be. His attitude turned dour. _Elite ships………………for elite pilots._

_Aces.

* * *

Nejim was dangerously close to losing it. His rage for Kak'besi was blinding him. His anger was deluding his senses. Which could prove incredibly dangerous, as he raced toward the Cruiser Analog on another attack run. He didn't want to care; he just wanted to make sure he lived to see this thing die in flames. The rational part of his mind knew that he should calm down. That he couldn't let himself lose it every time he lost a friend in battle, and frankly he knew that he stood to lose even more friends today. Nejim slowly shunned the pain away; he'd have to mourn later. He'd worry about the enemies before him first. It was a continuous and difficult task._

Nejim realized that he had his eyes and hands shut so he opened them. Reckless. He looked up in time to see Kass and Giani breaking off from another attack run on the Cruiser. The nova bright explosions from their torpedoes glowing behind them. However, the damn thing's shields were still operational. Though Nejim could swear he saw a strange waver pass over the shields, as if he could feel it waver. He boosted his acceleration, past redline, and his Varia raced toward the Cruiser in its highspeed mode. The Varia of Raska Hara a split second behind him.

The Yavins hoped the added edge of speed would give them something of a chance to make a dent in the tough shields with all that firepower blasting away at them. Hopefully the Yavins could at least hit the thing up close and fade away fast avoiding the things guns. The incredibly high speeds of their attack runs made course correction almost impossible though. And the Yavins would be rather vulnerable as they broke off. Nejim's heart fluttered as he remembered how close he had come to death on his last attack run. And he was about to do it again. Tier bleeped in joy as they closed the distance, oddly excited, Nejim would have to get it checked out again. Buggy droid.

Nejim and Raska closed, almost too fast. Soon Nejim was fighting hard to keep control of his fighter as it raced over the hull of the enemy ship. That was the plan, skim the hull and drop of your payload, and don't get fried Simple… SIMPLE…

The pulse of the enemy cannons where making him crazy as they flashed past. _Those enemy cannons could refire incredibly fast_, he thought, his mind almost frantic. Luckily there were not as many of them as there were turbolaser turrets on conventional warships. Though a turbolasers' refire delay tended to be much slower than this, so perhaps that was why the enemy didn't need that many turrets.

In a matter of seconds Nejim closed on his target, the enemy ship's bridge pylon, or at least they hoped it was the bridge. They'd hammering that spot for the last few minutes, if it wasn't the bridge that was surely a lot of wasted effort.

Nejim's focus was broken as he heard a scream, more like a roar over the comm. system. He looked back fear seizing him. Raska's fighter was spiraling off at a crazy angle, sparks flying everywhere. Madness and Anger almost found purchase.

(THE TARGET), Tier blasted at Nejim loudly, bringing him back into focus. In that odd moment recovering from shock he found he was incredibly calm and centered. He saw the spot ahead, and knew, felt, where he needed to place his shot. He fired as he pulled up, "climbing" rapidly away from the Cruiser Analog. The proton torpedoes flew to their target and struck true, the two torpedoes explosion was massive. Nejim could feel the vibrations rattling his ship. Shields Down! Tier beeped in surprise. "By the emperor, finally!" Nejim heard over the comm.. He looked around for her, and almost missed seeing the proton torpedoes flying past him. Kasseopia and Giani's fighters passed him hammering into the enemy ship.

"Goood shot Yavvvin 5. Did me proud." Raska hissed over the comm. She was still hissing. Nejim could tell she was laughing.

"Raska your alive!" Nejim sighed heavily. He checked the scanners, Raska's fighter was drifting away from the fight at high speed, though powered down.

"Alwayzz young one, though this one Iz badly damaged." She hissed again. "Would make another run. But thiz ship haz no power." She laughed again.

"You've done well Raska, rest and let us have at it. We'll get it for Kak'besi." With that said, he again steeled himself, as he brought the Varia on line for another attack run. Nejim could see the blue arcs of electricity jetting over the face of the shields where his torp hit. This must have meant that the enemy ships shields were weakened in that area, down he remembered. He yelled in delight as he saw Giani's torpedoes explode. Then incredibly, the flare of the explosion finally passed through the shields spilling over the hull of the Cruiser analog.

"We might crack this egg yet." Kasseopia yelled over the comm. system.

* * *

It seemed that they weren't getting anywhere here. For the last few minutes it was nothing but intense maneuvering as each side tried to score hits on each other. It was getting old, fast. 

Tanem did a quick course change lining up on the tail of one of the erratically moving enemy ships and dove after it. He had been forced to take a brief respite from the battle when this rear shields had collapsed from damage. The ace on his tail had been very good, the best one here Tanem figured, the one with the Gold, White, and Silver coloring. A ship with a silver stripe passing down the middle of its fuselage. He looked back and saw that still Hanik followed him, making sure to stay tight on his tail. _That silly girl_, he thought. Now that he had come close to taking any form of damage, she would stay there lodged to his tail until she felt he was out of danger. Which will only be when this tassle ends. _One way or the other._ Hanik Seese was fiercely loyal and fiercely protective of Tanem. Protective to a point where she'd even disobey orders. She was always like that, _Ever since that day… _

An enemy ship flittered in his target lock. Tanem found that the thing was very hard to get a bead on. Almost like a fuzz that hurt his eyes when he looked at them. Must be fatigue. Shots came from under him; Hanik doing her best to heard the ship into his target lock. He smiled, _I don't deserve her._

Tanem fired a proton torpedo and watched it race towards the enemy, and then miss as the enemy leapt to one side. The explosion from the torp covered its escape, when the flare subsided it had pulled out of his targeting range. "Damn things are getting annoying." Tanem said to himself, but blushed a bit when he heard the others reply likewise. He must have been talking out loud. He pulled back on his stick, looping around to once again join the melee.

Tanem looked to port and smiled, he marveled at the way Esel Palv went to work. Esel was currently engaged with one of the enemy fighters. Though from the looks of his piloting he was playing some sort of game. It was like one of the piloting stunt shows Tanem managed to watch in his youth. It was beautiful flying surely, but Tanem could see it was more than that. Esel was using his skills as a smoke screen, carefully luring the enemy into the guns of one of the other Yavins. His old friend surely knew how to put on a show. He was again reminded of his pilot's incredible talents.

"Could use assistance here Sir." shrieked Elajul's voice, bringing Tanem back to focus. "Silverback here is proving more than I can handle."

"Copy that. Hold tight," Tanem replied.

* * *

Systems went down and sparks arced, while warning lights and alarms flared within Vila Marik's cockpit. "Peace, tone down the alarms please," Vila asked of her R10 Unit. Her voice almost in a matter of fact tone. The particular SwarmShark she was engaging with had finally managed nibble her shields to nothingness. Her Varia sported carbon scoring and melted durasteel along its fuselage from a head to head pass. The fighter was damaged but still operable. Still the shields were down and she was particularly vulnerable, especially if her opponent looped around fast enough for a kill shot. Even so she was still stoically calm, as most Verillu were, even during dire circumstances. Her kind were hardly affected by the probability of death. They did however fear failing their comrades. Her companion R10 unit, Peace, was trying to bring some of the more critical functions back on line. 

(DAMAGE MODERATE, REPAIRABLE),Peace informed her. Vila checked her detection systems, she would have a few moments, and her opponent had shied away because of another Yavin's cross shot.

As she pulled the Varia around in a ponderous loop a synthetic voice spoke to Vila over the comm. "Vila Marik your reaction's have slowed by a significant percent. Is assistance required." Her robotic wingmate asked, rather speedily. It couldn't be helped though, her wingmate being a droid. Everything must seem slow to something that can run multiple tasks per second or minute. Vila didn't have trouble keeping up with Tybolt though, which was why he didn't hold back as much. "None needed, I am recovering," she replied calmly, "Moderate damage incurred though. I should be fine."

"Inaccurate assessment, aggressor unit is inbound to your position." Tybolt replied again. Vila had already put her Varia though an evasive pattern before he responded though.

"I am aware of the enemy," she said as blue bolts of energy flashed past her starship. It was true; Verillu had a knack for special awareness, being aquatic creatures and... warriors. She checked her status, at least her shields were coming back online.

"I shall supply fire support to your position." Tybolt insisted.

Vila shifted the Varia through another climb roll ratio trying to lose her tail. Smiling all the while, as she had checked her sensors. Tybolt was holding a conversation with her, while currently engaged in a ferocious battle with one enemy, while also trying to get in position to provide cover fire to her as well. It was even funnier because she knew he might be able to pull it off.

* * *

Bright beams of energy arced back and forth, blossom like explosions lit up the cool blackness of space. There was beautiful opera of battle that the Yavins had gotten themselves into. A complicated dance that was as beautiful as any Elajul had participated in. Though in reality it was also a cruel joke, beauty and death together. 

Even so, Elajul couldn't really enjoy the mirth behind such thoughts as she usually would have.

Currently she was on the wrong end of the joke. Elajul was not in a particularly good situation. Her shields were near critical failure. Her astromech droid was gone. The Varia's various systems, including its weapons, were failing. And she seemed to have acquired the particular ire of the Silverbacked Starfighter. It's ire was painful, and deadly and yet….

The weird blue beams raced past her Varia, occasionally impacting against her shields or setting of in close proximity. A delicious feeling of fear energized her hands. She used the foot pedals and adjusted the wing veniers, shifting the aft end of the fighter around in an attempt at a powerslide. Elajul felt the G's tug at her from behind, the starfield spun in a dazzling array. Suddenly new alarms flared, adding to the staccato of the alarms Elajul hadn't been able to shut off. Her Varia's left wing vernier suddenly failed during her slingshot maneuver. Elajul froze; the momentary flounder had obviously put her into a killshot. But it failed to come. Silverbacks shots only sailed over her fuselage_. Is he playing with me… a predator to prey?

* * *

__Next Up: A meeting of wills and the final conclusion to this "skirmish"! Who will be next to fall in battle! Tanem prepared to duel with the enemy Ace. Kass' team struggles to dostop the enemy behemoth. And Abahn rushes to save his friends._

_I liked this chapter. I added a few parts from the original writing of this story. I'm finding it a bit easier to write battles these days. But maybe that is because I can see the pictures in my head. I hope I can illustrate a picture well enough for you guys. Let me know if I am not providing needed detail. Let me know._

_As I said this was a merge of chapters 8 and 9. Three chapters on one little battle is a bit much. Hopefully this will lessen the fatigue of the reader._


End file.
